Linus Torvalds addressed his earlier comments on large language models during a talk at Open Source Summit India 2026. He described a previous estimate of 10X programmer productivity gains as lacking scientific basis.
Torvalds had once suggested that LLMs could deliver a tenfold boost in developer output. At the summit he clarified that the figure was not based on data.
"That was pulled out of my ass number, obviously," he said. He added that the industry has reached a stage where expectations around the technology remain uncertain.
The remarks were reported by ZDNet and shared on Slashdot.