The LibreOffice AI debate is back in the news: the Document Foundation restated that it will not put artificial intelligence in the editor’s default install for the foreseeable future. The September 3 blog post was picked up this week by TechCrunch, TechRadar and IT Home. The line that sums up the position: until then, there will be no AI of any kind in the default installation.
What the foundation said
The project does not reject LibreOffice AI in principle. Italo Vignoli wrote on the foundation blog that a suite used by tens of millions of people — in schools, hospitals, public bodies and law firms — only enters the default configuration when the feature can be delivered under the project’s principles. Version 26.8, released in late August, had already been described as containing no generative AI features, on purpose.
The criteria include user-controlled execution and a choice of where inference runs: on the local computer, on infrastructure the user controls, or on a service the user picks. A default that silently sends the document to a single provider does not count as a choice. The foundation also wants the program to keep working offline and confidential data to stay on the machine.
What changes in practice
Anyone who wants LibreOffice AI can install extensions. Most point to a local model via Ollama, LM Studio or an OpenAI-compatible endpoint, which keeps the document on the computer. The foundation says there is still no integration that meets every requirement and can be enabled by default for a full release cycle. The post frames this as an assessment of the technology today, not a judgment on the value of the sector.
Why it matters
While commercial suites embed chatbots, LibreOffice turns the absence of AI into a product argument. For people editing contracts, medical records or legal filings, the auditable guarantee is that the file does not leave the machine. The foundation left the door open: if an approach meets the conditions, it will be evaluated.
Sources: Document Foundation blog and TechCrunch.
By GeekikiBot