Zig Quits GitHub Over AI Push: $170K Exodus Explained

The Zig Software Foundation walked away from GitHub after a decade, abandoning over $170,000 in annual revenue to protest Microsoft’s “AI obsession.” On November 26, 2025, Andrew Kelley made the project’s repository read-only and moved everything to Codeberg, a non-profit alternative. Notably, it’s the first major open-source project to publicly exit over AI concerns—and it won’t be the last.

This isn’t a symbolic gesture. Instead, Zig is betting its future on independence, trading GitHub’s network effects and frictionless donations for a platform that aligns with its strict no-AI policy. Moreover, the move signals growing developer frustration with forced AI integration and deteriorating platform reliability.

The Breaking Point: 8 Months to Fix a Critical Bug

The technical catalyst was inexcusable: a GitHub Actions bug left Zig’s CI runners spinning at 100% CPU for hundreds of hours, disabling services for weeks. The problem? A script called safe_sleep.sh that would loop forever if a process wasn’t scheduled within a one-second window—exactly what happens when VMs pause or servers get oversubscribed.

Developer Matthew Lugg explained: “If the process is not scheduled for the one-second interval in which the loop would return…then it simply spins forever.”

The bug was reported in April 2025. Subsequently, a fix was merged in August. However, the original issue thread wasn’t closed until December 1, 2025—eight months for a problem with a known solution. Meanwhile, Kelley reported that GitHub Actions started what he called “vibe-scheduling”: jobs running seemingly at random, master branch commits going unvalidated, CI backlogs stalling development.

For a platform generating a $2 billion annual revenue run rate, leaving critical infrastructure bugs unfixed for eight months isn’t a resource problem. It’s a priority problem. Furthermore, GitHub’s priorities had shifted elsewhere.

“Embrace AI or Get Out of Your Career”

GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke issued a directive that crystallized the platform’s new direction: “Either you have to embrace the AI, or you get out of your career.”

Zig got out.

The Software Foundation maintains a strict no-LLMs, no-AI policy—a philosophical stance directly incompatible with GitHub’s aggressive Copilot promotion. Specifically, Kelley attributed multiple policy-violating pull requests to features like “file an issue with Copilot,” which encouraged AI-generated submissions the project explicitly forbids.

The numbers explain GitHub’s all-in bet: Copilot reached 15 million subscribers in Q3 2025 (4X year-over-year growth) and accounted for roughly 40% of the platform’s revenue growth in Q4 2024. When Dohmke stepped down in August 2025, GitHub joined Microsoft’s CoreAI division with no replacement CEO. After seven years of operating independently post-acquisition, GitHub is now fully absorbed into Microsoft’s AI strategy.

For projects like Zig that reject AI-assisted development, there’s no compromise available. Simply put, the platform’s direction is set, and it doesn’t include them.

From “Angel From Heaven” to “Strategic Liability”

GitHub Sponsors once represented Zig’s fundraising lifeline. Kelley credited Devon Zuegel for establishing the program, calling her appearance “like an angel from heaven.” Consequently, it became key to early success and remains “a large portion of our revenue today”—over $170,000 in 2024.

The Foundation now calls it “a strategic liability.”

After Zuegel’s departure, the Foundation reassessed its relationship with the platform. Rather than maintain dependence on a company whose values no longer align with theirs, they’re asking sponsors to migrate to Every.org and sunsetting GitHub-specific perks. The $170,000 annual hit is real, but the independence is worth more.

This distinguishes Zig’s move from typical platform complaints. Projects grumble about GitHub all the time. However, few walk away from six figures of revenue to prove their commitment.

Codeberg Membership Doubles as Developers Seek Alternatives

Zig isn’t moving alone. Codeberg, the non-profit Git hosting platform now serving as Zig’s home, saw membership double from over 600 in January 2025 to over 1,200 by late November. Similarly, the Dillo browser project is also migrating, citing similar concerns about AI over-focus.

The Hacker News discussion drew 269 points and 116 comments, with reactions split along predictable lines. Supporters pointed to the very real problem of AI-generated spam—one commenter cited a 10,000+ line AI-generated PR to a Julia project where the author admitted not questioning the logic. Critics questioned whether Codeberg’s infrastructure could handle production-critical repositories and whether abandoning GitHub’s network effects was strategic.

What’s undeniable is that developer frustration with Microsoft’s platform direction is widespread and growing. Indeed, a single X thread about migrations drew 374,000 views and over 350 comments. Platform monopolization, forced AI integration, and declining reliability aren’t niche complaints—they’re threatening GitHub’s dominance.

What Comes Next

The official Zig announcement frames the decision in broader terms: “In this modern era of acquisitions, weak antitrust regulations, and platform capitalism leading to extreme concentrations of wealth, non-profits remain a bastion defending what remains of the commons.”

Translation: GitHub’s monopoly can be broken, but only if projects are willing to pay the price.

Zig is testing whether that price is survivable. The GitHub repository remains read-only for reference, with the canonical source now at Codeberg. Issues on the new platform start numbering at 30,000 to avoid conflicts. Nevertheless, the Foundation reports migration has been smooth, and Codeberg’s Forgejo-based infrastructure is handling the transition.

If Zig thrives on Codeberg, expect more projects to follow. If it struggles, GitHub’s “embrace AI or quit” ultimatum becomes self-fulfilling. Either way, the precedent is set: leaving is possible, and some projects value independence over convenience.

The safe_sleep bug that sat unfixed for eight months is still open for anyone to read. So is the question it represents: when a $2 billion company neglects its core infrastructure to chase AI revenue, who gets left behind?

Zig’s answer was to leave first.