[Discuss] With AI, 2, 000 Vulnerabilities per Linux kernel release

[richard.pieri at gmail.com (Rich Pieri)]

On Sat, 05 Sep 2026 13:18:53 -0400
"Randall Rose" <rrose at pobox.com> wrote:

> This isn't conclusive.  You attempted to rebut only part of the
> "either/or" point from me that you quoted.  

Because it's not an either/or point, and I rebutted the entire thing in
one go.

But how about this article from Bruce Schneier which he published this
morning: "This is the result of AI-powered vulnerability finding, and a
good example of AI helping the defenders more than the attackers."

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2026/09/microsofts-patching.html

Yes, it's Microsoft, but remember: Microsoft is one of the largest
kernel contributors in the world (though I think they've dropped out of
the top 10) and the majority of their revenue comes from Azure-based
services. I don't have raw numbers but my understanding is that
somewhere between 1/2 and 2/3 of all Azure VMs run some flavor of Linux
(someone please correct me with references if I am mistaken), and that
Microsoft routinely test over a thousand different distributions (I'm
assuming this includes point releases) to ensure they run reliably.

Microsoft have access to the models. We know this for a fact. Their
revenue depends on Linux. We also know this for a fact but I don't know
how much, but they maintain multiple Linux distributions specifically
for Azure so it must be a sufficiently profitable revenue generator.
They test Linux extensively. We also-also know this. You can substitute
Amazon, Google and Meta for Microsoft in most of the essay (except that
I don't know if any of them maintain their own distros) because they
are even more dependent on Linux than Microsoft.

If you have hard data with references to the contrary then I'll revise
my opinion. Until then I'll point and say "FUD", "clickbait" and
"Chicken Little".

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