Creator of Linux Trashes AI Hype

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Bash AI

Is AI everything it is made out to be? Not according to Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux and its enduring chief spokesperson. In his view, the technology is “90 percent marketing and ten percent reality.” Ouch.

Torvalds offered a candid assessment of the AI industry during an interview with TFiR at the Open Source Summit in Vienna last month. The Finnish programmer is well known for his sharp critiques and high standards, yet he has mellowed over the years and spoke in a more measured tone than in the past.

Interest Without the Hype

“I think AI is really interesting and I think it is going to change the world,” Torvalds said in a portion of the interview that recently went viral. “And at the same time, I hate the hype cycle so much that I really don’t want to go there.”

“So my approach to AI right now is I will basically ignore it,” he continued, “because I think the whole tech industry around AI is in a very bad position and it’s 90 percent marketing and ten percent reality.”

Give a Tux

The benevolent dictator for life has spoken. His remarks are unlikely to go unnoticed in an industry where many data centers run on Linux. Torvalds believes the real test for AI lies ahead.

“In five years, things will change, and at that point we’ll see what of the AI is getting used every day for real workloads instead of just ChatGPT,” he noted, before turning to the popular chatbot.

Torvalds remains unconvinced by today’s large language models, including those from OpenAI. With a mix of a smirk and a grimace, he observed that they “make great, like, demonstrations.”

“It’s obviously being used… in many, many areas,” he added. “But I really hate the hype cycle.”

Kernel of Truth

Some AI advocates may view Torvalds’ decision to tune out the industry as overly cautious. Yet his stance reflects a broader skepticism that is easy to understand. Despite billions of dollars flowing into the sector and other industries being reshaped on the promise of immediate transformation, a clear route to sustained profitability has yet to emerge.

Prominent models continue to undermine confidence through frequent hallucinations, whether in standalone chatbots or features such as Google Search’s AI Overviews. The gap between ambitious claims and everyday reliability remains difficult to ignore.

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