Canonical plans to add AI features ‘throughout 2026’ but says ‘Ubuntu is not becoming an AI product.’
One of the most popular Linux distributions is about to get an influx of AI features. As reported by Phoronix, Jon Seager, VP of engineering at Ubuntu developer Canonical, shared a blog post on Monday detailing plans to add AI features to the Linux distro over the next year. As the post states, the AI features “will come in two forms: first as a means of enhancing existing OS functionality with AI models in the background, and latterly in the form of ‘AI native’ features and workflows for those who want them.”
You can feel the for-profit corporation behind it (snaps, for example), but it mostly stays out of the way if you’re not digging too deep into the internals. And it’s nice to get latest GNOME a month after it comes out, and still have a system that Just Works.
I run it on an old laptop that I use from time to time, and it’s nice.
But every now and then, Canonical does something like this.
Sure it does sound like a reasonable take on AI compared to what I’ve heard Windows is doing. But still. Is AI going to be disabled until I go out of my way to try it out, or is Ubuntu going to start adding blinking AI buttons at some point?
And this is all ignoring the fact that AI is adding fuel to the planet-wide fire, and is based on theft. Sadly, these things don’t matter to the conversation these days. I still have a lot of re-framing to do before I fully accept that this is what the world is now.