Moderators of Reddit's r/opensource community announced new submission rules on Saturday evening, October 24, 2026. Under the rules, projects that use artificial intelligence, are created with its help, or are intended for it will not be accepted in the community. After the rules were announced, a heated discussion began in the comments, and a rival community called r/trueopensource appeared.
What the New Rules Prohibit
In their announcement, the moderators wrote that artificial intelligence in its current form does not fit the open source community. They stated that a project will not be welcome in r/opensource if it uses artificial intelligence, was created with its help, or is intended for it. The rules were announced as new submission rules and define which projects may be presented to the community. A The Verge article reported on the rules, while the moderators' announcement was published in the community itself, that is, in r/opensource. The Verge, in reporting on the rules, covered the moderators' announcement and the heated discussion in the comments.
"AI, as it exists today, is incongruent to this Open Source community." — r/opensource moderators' announcement
The rule covers three cases. The first is a project using artificial intelligence. The second is a project created with the help of artificial intelligence. The third is a project intended for artificial intelligence. Any one of the three cases is enough for a project not to be welcome in the community.
Criticism and the Rival Community
After the rules were announced, a heated discussion began in the comments. Critics called the rules overly broad, misdirected, or vague. They noted that the Linux kernel now contains some code created with the help of artificial intelligence. This raised the concern that projects using the kernel could also fall under the ban. Amid the discussion, a rival community called r/trueopensource appeared. Its emergence shows that the rules were not unanimously accepted within the community. At the center of the criticism is the scope of the rule. The Linux kernel example shows the practical effect of the rule: because the kernel contains code created with the help of artificial intelligence, projects using the kernel could also fall under the ban. Critics therefore assessed the rule as overly broad and also called it vague.
Possibility of Selective Enforcement
Moderator Wolvereness said that the rules contain nuances and allow for selective enforcement. Speaking as a moderator, he commented on the rules and specifically emphasized the possibility of selective enforcement. As an example, he cited programs that happen to have artificial intelligence capabilities. Such capabilities include automatic subtitles. The moderator cited this example as an illustration of selective enforcement. The automatic subtitles example shows the boundary of the rule. In such a program, an artificial intelligence capability is not the main purpose but an added convenience. The moderator indicated that programs of this type can be considered within the scope of selective enforcement. Thus, although the text of the rule looks strict, the moderators indicated that in some cases it can be applied selectively.
Additional Requirements for Projects
Submitted projects must be at least one year old, actively maintained, and have multiple contributors. This requirement limits appeals for help from solo developers with new projects. The moderators said they will no longer be able to consider requests seeking a project maintainer or contributor. In this way, the rules changed not only the topic of artificial intelligence but also the general procedure for submitting to the community. The three requirements apply together. If a project is less than one year old, is not actively maintained, or has a single contributor, it does not meet the community's requirements. The moderators specifically noted that they will no longer be able to consider requests seeking a project maintainer or contributor. The new requirements impose more conditions for entering the community than before.
Posts in Languages Other Than English
The announcement also applies to participants who do not write in English. The moderators told them to find another community. As the reason, the moderators pointed out that they cannot distinguish text written with the help of artificial intelligence from text translated with its help. Therefore, posts in languages other than English will not be accepted in the community. The moderators explained this decision by the difficulty of determining the origin of texts. It is hard to tell apart text written with the help of artificial intelligence and text translated with its help. This rule also defines the language of communication in the community. This part further expands the scope of the rules and defines in which language members may write in the community.
