Re: GCC AI Policy Announcement

On Sat, 1 Aug 2026, 13:35 Basile STARYNKEVITCH, <[email protected]>
wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> related to https://gcc.gnu.org/pipermail/gcc/2026-August/248648.html
>
> >
> > # Developers that use the GNU GPL protect your rights with two steps:
> > # (1) assert copyright on the software, and (2) offer you this
> > License
> > # giving you legal permission to copy, distribute and/or modify it.
> >
> > so copyrighting the software is a means to an end, not an end in
> > itself.
> >
> > What happens if a patch contains a non-trival amount of code that
> > cannot be copyrighted because it was assisted by AI?
> >
> > If some third party were to distribute a binary of gcc, they would
> > still be obliged to distribute the source that is covered by the
> > GPLv3.
>
>
> I tend to agree (long time ago I was involved in GCC:
> https://arxiv.org/abs/1109.0779 ...) at that time using AI inspired
> techniques.
>
>
> I also don't understand what is AI assisted code generation, because
> that requires a (computable) definition of AI.
>

The policy doesn't use the phrase "AI assisted", which is intentional. Is
the policy unclear?



> Are software projects like refpersys.org (source code below) considered
> as "AI"?
>
> Are code generators like https://carburetta.com/ considered as AI (they
> do use some clever AI techniques, and could be extended to use even
> better one).
>
> Is a large GNU emacs plugin or software using machine learning
> techniques (e.g. extending or above or using or related to
> https://github.com/magikerwin/ML-From-Scratch-With-CPP ...)
>
> In some countries (including mine, France) a lot of GCC code can be and
> has been funded thru calls (or sponsors) related to artificial
> intelligence?
>
> Thos interested by that topic might look also at
> http://bootstrappingartificialintelligence.fr/WordPress3/
> and a few books by Jacques Pitrat (see wikipedia).
>
> The current many GCC plugins and extensions could be (and sometimes
> are) considered as "AI".
>
> Thanks for reading.
>
> NB: I now work on refpersys.org and it is a GPL licensed C++ inference
> engine for expert systems. Help is accepted.
>
> --
>
> Basile STARYNKEVITCH
> <[email protected]>
> 8 rue de la Fa=C3=AFencerie
> http://starynkevitch.net/Basile/
> 92340 Bourg-la-Reine
> https://github.com/bstarynk
> France
> https://github.com/RefPerSys/RefPerSys
>                   https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0908-5250
>