Robot Eyeballs Make Open Source More Valuable
InfoWorld, Tuesday, October 27th, 2026
Matt Asay argues AI bug-finding tools increase the value of open source because shared code lets fixes reach every user.
In this InfoWorld column, Matt Asay disputes Eric Raymond's view that AI tools could eventually find and fix all defects in finite human-written code, noting that each generation of tools keeps exposing flaws in code thought secure.
He argues AI finally supplies the many eyeballs open source always needed, but software and dependencies keep changing.
Source access still matters because decompiled code lacks tests, history and licenses, and private patches leave each owner maintaining them alone.
Examples include Google finding 26 vulnerabilities with AI-generated fuzz targets and Mozilla and Anthropic finding 22 Firefox vulnerabilities.