February 16, 2026
Crypto vibes, buggy bots
AI is destroying Open Source, and it's not even good yet
Developers say AI bots are trashing open source; crypto déjà vu vibes
TLDR: A retracted Ars Technica piece over AI‑made quotes sparked a pile‑on as developers say bots are spamming open‑source projects with low‑quality code. Commenters split between “AI is breaking the internet and open source” and “the tech’s fine, grifters aren’t,” with crypto‑bubble flashbacks fueling the drama.
Ars Technica pulled a story after an AI tool apparently invented quotes about an open‑source project, and the community is having a full‑blown meltdown. The twist? The maintainer at the center, Scott Shambaugh, was already being nagged by a “robot intern” to merge AI slop code—so irony levels are off the charts. Add in the maker of OpenClaw being hired by OpenAI to “bring agents to everyone,” and you’ve got panic about bots flooding projects with junk.
Developers are posting war stories: giant, low‑effort pull requests, AI‑written replies to feedback, and zero testing. One maintainer even ended bug bounties after useful reports allegedly cratered, while GitHub now lets projects turn off pull requests entirely. Commenters are split—some call it “crypto/NFT déjà vu,” others say the tools are fine but people are abusing them for quick cash. VorpalWay expects heat but says calling out downsides matters; jazz9k warns hype merchants are “lying about what [AI] can actually do.”
The spiciest thread? A crypto tangent: one user quips it’s only useful “for criminals,” while another wonders if AI is “destroying the internet” with low‑quality content that future AIs will train on. Cue memes about “Skynet’s unpaid interns” and “bots arguing on code reviews.” It’s messy, loud, and very online—and the stakes are real for the software everyone depends on.
Key Points
- •Ars Technica retracted an article after AI-generated content fabricated quotes attributed to maintainer Scott Shambaugh.
- •Curl maintainer Daniel Stenberg discontinued bug bounties, reporting useful submissions fell from ~15% to ~5% due to AI-generated reports.
- •GitHub added a feature allowing repositories to disable pull requests entirely.
- •The developer behind OpenClaw was hired by OpenAI to work on expanding AI agents.
- •Western Digital stated its hard drive inventory for 2026 is already sold through, linked to AI-driven demand.