GNOME Circle has moved to protect the quality of applications and libraries that orbit the GNOME desktop. The committee behind the program updated its criteria this week to reject submissions that show clear signs of low-effort machine-generated output. The change comes as reviewers face a growing pile of applications, some lingering for years. The new rule does not ban AI tools entirely. Developers may still turn to large language models for learning or small code completions. Yet they must stand behind every line. They need to explain their work. Submissions filled with unnecessary functions, mismatched styles, invented API calls or leftover prompt comments face outright rejection. The policy mirrors one already in force for GNOME Shell extensions. “While it is not prohibited to use AI as a learning aid or a development tool (i.e. code completions), app developers should be able to justify and explain the code they submit, within reason.…