"No AI" — the Official Position
In its September recap report, The Document Foundation gave a short and definitive answer to the question of whether LibreOffice has artificial intelligence (AI): "No AI is now a feature" — meaning the absence of artificial intelligence is itself now a feature. With this phrase, the foundation summed up the project's stance on AI in just a few words.
The statement's meaning is as follows: the foundation does not reject AI technology outright. Users can install AI extensions on their own if they wish. However, such extensions are not included in the standard installation and are never forced on anyone. So the "no AI" state is not an oversight — it is presented as a deliberate and open choice.
"No AI is now a feature" — The Document Foundation
It is worth noting that this approach sharply contrasts with the direction major software vendors have taken in recent years: they are racing to make AI assistants a standard part of their products. LibreOffice, on the other hand, openly declares that it will not add AI features without user consent, and presents this as its distinguishing trait. In other words, the foundation is not saying "we didn't add AI" — it is saying "we deliberately chose not to add it."
Record Downloads: the First Week of 26.8
Another major piece of news in the September report where the "no AI" statement appeared is the remarkable launch of LibreOffice 26.8. In the first week after release, the new version was downloaded more than a million times. According to the foundation, this is the highest figure in the history of the free office suite: 26.8 surpassed the first-week results of all previous releases and became a new milestone for the project.
The new-features video released alongside the launch was watched by more than 20,000 people. These numbers point to something important: while the foundation openly states its AI policy, the project's audience keeps growing. As the user base grows, so does the need to articulate the official position on AI clearly — and it is no coincidence that this report pairs the record-download news with the "No AI" statement. As the foundation notes, this figure is the best first-week result in the project's history. In other words, 26.8 has gone down in history not just as another update, but as the release that set a new download record. Both stories come from the same source — The Document Foundation's September recap report.
Extensions Stay Optional
As the foundation clarifies, the door is not closed for those who want to use AI. LibreOffice allows AI features to be added through its extension mechanism — users install them on their own, by choice. But this process is not initiated or forced by the foundation, and is not included in the standard package.
Under this model, the choice rests entirely with the user: those who need AI will install the extension, and those who don't will keep working with the program as before — with no AI components at all. The foundation emphasizes that this very optionality is the central point of the policy. In other words, the project neither deprives users of AI nor forces it on them — both directions are left to the user's own decision. The phrase "No AI is now a feature" has become the foundation's shortest and most precise answer to questions about AI: in a single sentence it expresses both openness to the technology and resistance to forced integration. That is why it quickly became the symbolic expression of the project's position.
This principle was also explained in detail in the foundation's separate note, "Yes, no AI is now a feature": the project does not deny AI, but is in no hurry to add it to the default settings.
TechCrunch Takes Notice
Once the statement went public, major technology outlets took notice. On October 6, TechCrunch published a standalone article headlined "LibreOffice says 'no AI' is now a software feature" and brought the story to its readers.
It is notable that the outlet devoted a separate piece to the statement: it means that an open-source office suite calling the absence of AI a feature has news value for the technology press. The foundation's short phrase is no longer just a note on the project blog — it has become a widely discussed official position, cited by other publications as well. Thus, in one week, the phrase "No AI is now a feature" moved from an internal project announcement to the international technology agenda.
