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Linus Torvalds says AI has made 'huge' Linux kernel updates the new normal
(www.theregister.com)
this post was submitted on 11 Aug 2026
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To be perfectly clear, the only AI I am subscribed to is the one Proton gives with their family plan VPN bundle, and I didn't choose it. I used it to edit a letter I wrote once and otherwise trust it as far as I can throw its server.
This knee-jerk reaction to anything with the letters AI attached being bad is just so silly. Y'all are acting the way Republicans act when it comes to the word "queer." Just because it's in the vicinity of you doesn't mean you're contaminated, you've caught it, you're now one of them.
This is a highly intelligent individual - controversial hot takes notwithstanding - utilizing a tool in a way that has proven itself to be very effective when used properly. Nobody is saying you have to get ready to be a switch in the bedroom any more than they're saying you have to use AI.
Distro maintenance is a difficult and thankless task, and having a tool that can scan and analyze code orders of magnitude faster than you as well as make suggestions on how to fix it isn't an inherently bad thing. Setting that tool loose with unlimited agency would be a bad thing, but where oh where is Linus saying he's gonna give Claude full read/write access to the entire kernel and walk away forevermore?
Hate on AI bros all you want. I'm with you there, most of them are idiots that don't know their mouth from their anus and speak from both equally. I don't think Linus fits that particular picture [hot takes notwithstanding!] when it comes to using the new tool on the market in a reasonable and measured way.
I'm actually a bit scared. We're essentially at the early days of AIs now being able to execute tasks and hack. Imagine a much better model than what Claude has now, being set free/open, for hackers to utilize that in a virus. A virus that adapts, learns, changes it's own code/masks, looks for exploits, spreads around like crazy, destroying systems. How do you stop something like that once it starts doing it's thing?
I think there are physical and economic limits. Neural networks may improve in software, but they still need more and more hardware, at some point that hardware resource curve is going to be to steep to climb at the current rate.
Why are you assuming that software improvements don't include less resource utilization?
I thought it was clear that's what I was implying.
And I'm asking why you think that.
China's models have gotten significantly less resource intensive based on updating the software.
It's true, but think like the crypto miner bugs. I don't know enough on AI's working, but is a distributed computing LLM possible, or is the need for super close super low latency between nodes eliminate the risk of a distributed computing, learn as it travels botnet powered AI worm, that continues evolving even if it's home is shut down.
You could likely do some sort of distrubuted system in machines that had a reasonable graphics card, or shared memory like the M series macs. Have it silently intall a 30b parameter model or higher and somehow hide how that space is being used.
Local models are getting pretty good, and one focused on hacking / bot net behavior could probably do very well at that size.
But you'd notice it being used... fans would go off, frame rates drop etc. You'd probably need to code it to only do stuff when it seems idle?
well my thought is, more the botnet side of it, IE pushing less on individual machines, but more on massive distribution. IE it not needing one computer strong enough to run it, IE expecting 90% of the machines it infects to be average consumer PCs, but making more use out of 1000 systems that can handle 1% each, rather than 1 computer that handles 100%, however yeah I do suppose also allowing it to do the bulk of the work when the computer is likely unused etc... and I don't know much on the concept of communication etc... IE most major botnets were crushed by a command center being shut down. Imagining a different form that has, basically makes C&C's on the fly.
Im not super well versed in this, but i dont think you can efficiently distrubute the LLM processing like that. Even if it was possible, it would be very very slow. But I guess speed isnt always needed.