Linux kernel drops Assisted-by tag for AI-assisted code

At the Linux Maintainers Summit held in Prague, Czech Republic, on October 8, 2026, attendees reached a decision: patches submitted to the Linux kernel no longer need to carry an "Assisted-by" tag declaring whether AI helped write them. The decision was disclosed in a message on the Linux mailing list. A patch removing the tag requirement entered the documentation development branch on October 14. According to BlueDot, however, the kernel's publicly available AI-assisted development guidelines still ask maintainers to keep the tag.

Previously, the kernel guidelines required patches developed with AI tools to include the Assisted-by tag. The removal patch's description states that among 18,533 non-merge changes before Linux 7.3-rc7, about 10% carried the tag, while actual AI use was more widespread. Maintainers argued that a missing tag does not prove a patch was developed without AI assistance, and that for developers who use AI tools frequently, the tag itself says little about which parts of the work AI actually contributed to. The removal patch deletes the tag requirement from the relevant guidelines and also removes checkpatch.pl's special handling of the tag.

Linus Torvalds opposed banning developers from using AI tools by rule, saying that prohibiting AI would be as foolish as prohibiting text editors, and that people working on the kernel know what they are doing. He stressed that maintainers should look at whether a developer understands the code they submit, rather than judging the quality of a contribution solely by the tools used. The reports also note that a set of patches he submitted this week, developed with Claude Code, was found to contain race conditions, and its memory reclamation was also considered problematic; further development of that patch set was handed to human developer Kiryl Shutsemau.

The kernel's guidelines on AI-generated content still recommend that submitters explain in the patch description or changelog which tools were used, which parts were affected, and how the changes were tested. Maintainers may request additional testing, apply stricter review, or reject a patch. Submitters are still responsible for checking their own code, confirming license compliance, and taking responsibility for what they submit, so removing the tag does not remove human accountability.