{"slug": "linus-torvalds-on-debugging-the-kernel-with-ai", "title": "Linus Torvalds on Debugging the Kernel with AI", "summary": "Linus Torvalds credited an AI assistant for helping debug a Linux kernel issue that required 24 patches and 18 kernel boots to resolve, with the final fix being a one-line change from round_up() to round_down(). In a commit message, Torvalds noted the AI repeatedly declared the problem unsolvable but continued adding and analyzing debug code when pushed, and he let the AI write the commit message.", "body_md": "# Linus Torvalds on Debugging the Kernel with AI\n\nAnd this was a debug session from hell, enormously helped by an AI doing much of the grunt-work.\n\nI’d like to call it my tireless helper, but the AI several times stated flat out that this was impossible and unsolvable and that we should just write a report about it.\n\nI suspect those things have been trained by people who may not be quite as stubborn as I am.\n\nBut while the AI was ready to give up several times, it did keep adding debug code and analyzing it faithfully when I pushed. So credit where credit is due and I let the AI write the commit message above.\n\nThis is basically a one-liner fixing a bogus\n\n`round_up()`\n\nto a`round_down()`\n\n, but there were 24 patches adding more and more debug information to this, and 18 kernel boot to finally narrow it down to this. — Linus\n\nLinus Torvalds, in the [commit message](https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/818bebeb63dd6bf5f4e07e145f6cdbace520a34c) for a kernel fix.\n\nI troubleshoot every now and then myself, and it’s way harder than programming, tbh. AI can’t always find the root cause. But it’s still a tireless companion to have on-call — it surfaces details I’d have missed on my own, and some of them are the ones that end up pointing the way.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/linus-torvalds-on-debugging-the-kernel-with-ai", "canonical_source": "https://julin.ai/2026/08/23/linus-ai-debug/", "published_at": "2026-08-22 12:00:00+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-08-26 23:19:41.185400+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "developer-tools"], "entities": ["Linus Torvalds", "Linux kernel"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/linus-torvalds-on-debugging-the-kernel-with-ai", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/linus-torvalds-on-debugging-the-kernel-with-ai.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/linus-torvalds-on-debugging-the-kernel-with-ai.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/linus-torvalds-on-debugging-the-kernel-with-ai.jsonld"}}