According to ZDNet, Microsoft distinguished engineer Galen Hunt stated a goal to “eliminate every line of C and C++ from Microsoft by 2030,” using AI and algorithms to translate large codebases to Rust. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently said 20% to 30% of Microsoft’s code is now AI-written. Simultaneously, the Linux kernel has officially made Rust a co-equal core language with C, with projects like Debian’s apt package manager and Android 16 adopting it. However, both camps are moving gradually; Hunt clarified Windows is not being fully rewritten in Rust with AI, and Linux maintainers are using AI cautiously for tasks like patch triage, not wholesale code generation. The push is driven by security, as memory errors in C account for about 70% of OS security holes.
The AI reality check
Here’s the thing: the AI angle is getting a massive dose of cold water from the very people using it. Linus Torvalds called himself “a huge believer” in AI for maintenance but also warned that 90% of the AI industry is hype. He thinks using it to generate serious production code is a “horrible idea” because it wrecks maintainability. And you know what? He’s right. Linux maintainers, like Sasha Levin, see AI as an “extra stable maintainer” for the grunt work—sifting patches, managing CVEs, reducing burnout. It’s a tool, not a replacement.
Microsoft, of course, is going bigger. They’re talking about full AI agents that can spin up environments and open pull requests. But even Azure CTO Mark Russinovich is warning about hallucinations, prompt injection, and the need for guardrails. So the narrative isn’t “AI will write our OS.” It’s “AI might help us manage the colossal complexity of our legacy code while we slowly, carefully, replace the dangerous parts.” That’s a far less sexy headline, but it’s the real story.
The Rust invasion is real
So if AI isn’t the magic wand, what is? Rust. And it’s already happening. Microsoft isn’t just talking; they’re shipping. Windows 11 24H2 has Rust in kernel components and the Graphics Device Interface. They’ve got a Rust Windows API and a framework for drivers. The Surface team is using it for safer firmware. This is a classic strategy of gradual hardening.
Linux might be moving slower, but in some ways, it’s more profound. Rust is “here to stay,” as lead Miguel Ojeda says. It’s not just for weird drivers anymore. Debian’s apt is going full Rust. Dave Airlie says the graphics stack’s DRM project will require Rust for new drivers in about a year. Google’s putting it in Android 16. The compiler work with gccrs is progressing. This is a fundamental, architectural shift for an OS built on C for over 30 years. Who saw that coming?
Security isn’t perfect, but it’s better
Now, let’s be clear: Rust isn’t a silver bullet. The first Rust-based CVE, CVE-2025-68260 for an Android Binder driver, has already popped up. Microsoft had a bug in its Rust GDI. You can absolutely still write bugs in Rust. But the key difference is the *class* of bug. It prevents whole categories of memory safety vulnerabilities that plague C. That’s the entire point. When you’re building the foundational layer for everything else, moving the needle on that 70% statistic is a monumental win. It’s about raising the floor, not achieving perfection.
The long game
So what’s the endgame? Nobody is rewriting Windows or Linux from scratch. That’s a fantasy. Hunt backed off that interpretation for a reason. The strategy is aggressive but gradual: Rust for all new security-critical work, and a long, slow, probably AI-assisted crawl of replacing old C code where it makes sense. Microsoft might have most of its code in Rust by 2035. Linux may never be “all Rust,” because for raw, unadulterated speed in core paths, C still has its place.
But the direction is unmistakable. The era of C’s dominance in systems programming is entering its twilight. It’s being dethroned by a combination of a safer language and new tools to manage the technical debt it created. The future is a hybrid, polyglot, and cautiously automated world. And honestly? For the security of basically every device we use, that’s probably a good thing. Check back in 2035—I bet we’ll be amazed how far this quiet transformation has gone.
