r/opensource bans projects that use AI and tightens posting rules

One of Reddit's best-known open-source communities has closed its doors to projects tied to AI. The Verge reported that the subreddit's moderators published fresh submission rules on Saturday evening, and one of the changes shuts out any project that uses AI.

The moderators' post put it bluntly: "AI, as it exists today, is incongruent to this Open Source community." The change set off an angry response in the comments and led to a rival subreddit, The Verge reported.

Key facts

• Projects built with AI, made by AI or meant for AI are no longer welcome on r/opensource, according to The Verge.
• Submitted projects must now be a year old or more, still maintained and backed by more than one contributor, The Verge reported.
• Anyone who does not speak English is told to look for another community, according to The Verge.
• Backlash to the rules led to a new rival subreddit, r/trueopensource, The Verge reported.

Background

The AI ban covers three kinds of projects, according to The Verge: those that use AI, those made by AI and those intended for AI. The moderators' post framed AI in its current form as a poor fit for the community, The Verge reported.

The new rules go beyond AI, The Verge reported. Any project shared on the subreddit must have existed for a year or longer and must still be under active upkeep. It also needs more than one contributor, according to The Verge.

According to The Verge, the moderators also said posts seeking new maintainers or contributors will no longer be accepted.

Language is part of the change too. The moderators' post states, "If you don't speak English, you need to find a different community." According to The Verge, the moderators said they have no way to tell posts written by AI apart from posts translated by AI.

The Linux kernel community recently took a different approach. Days before the subreddit's change, kernel developers decided contributors no longer have to say whether AI tools helped them, and they scrapped the Assisted-by tag requirement, The Register reported. According to The Register, Linus Torvalds has said he opposes rules forcing AI disclosure, provided contributors grasp the code they submit.

What it means for you

If you share open-source projects on Reddit, r/opensource now has a much narrower door. A project that uses AI in any way may be turned away. So may a project that is less than a year old or has only one contributor, based on the rules The Verge described.

The scope of the AI rule has drawn pushback, The Verge reported, with community members calling it too broad, misguided or vague. Many commenters pointed out that the Linux kernel now includes some code generated by AI, which could put projects built on it in conflict with the rules.

In the comments, a moderator who goes by Wolvereness wrote that the rules leave room for nuance and selective enforcement, according to The Verge. The moderator gave the case of software that happens to include accessibility tools that use AI, such as automatic captions.

How the moderators will decide whether a project uses AI is not known. That leaves some uncertainty for anyone thinking about posting a project there.

Anyone who does not speak English is told to go elsewhere, The Verge reported. Requests for maintainers or contributors are also off the table, The Verge reported.

Practical steps

1. Before posting to r/opensource, check that the project has existed for a year or more and is still being updated, as the new rules require.
2. Confirm that the project has multiple contributors, according to the rules The Verge described.
3. Expect projects that use AI to be turned away, though a moderator said some cases, such as AI captioning for accessibility, may be judged with nuance, The Verge reported.
4. Skip posts seeking maintainers or contributors, since moderators said those are no longer allowed, The Verge reported.
5. Developers who disagree with the rules can look at r/trueopensource, the rival subreddit formed after the backlash, according to The Verge.

What happens next

The comments on the moderators' post turned into a firestorm, The Verge said, and the debate has already spilled into a rival subreddit. Whether Reddit itself has commented on the rules is not known. How many members the subreddit has, and how many have left, is also not known.

The clash comes as the Linux kernel community has moved away from requiring AI disclosure, The Register reported.

FAQ

What did r/opensource ban? According to The Verge, it banned any project built with AI, created by AI or aimed at AI.

Are there new rules besides the AI ban? Yes. Projects need to be a year old or more, kept up to date and backed by several contributors, The Verge reported. Requests for maintainers or contributors are no longer accepted.

Will every project with any AI be removed? Not necessarily. A moderator named Wolvereness said there is room for nuance and selective enforcement, The Verge reported.

Why are non-English speakers affected? According to The Verge, moderators said there is no way for them to separate AI-written posts from AI-translated ones.

Where did unhappy users go? Some backlash led to a rival subreddit, r/trueopensource, The Verge reported.

How does this compare with the Linux kernel? The kernel community recently dropped its rule asking contributors to disclose AI tool use, The Register reported.