The Document Foundation has confirmed that LibreOffice will not include AI features in the foreseeable future. In a blog post following the late-August release of the latest LibreOffice version, the nonprofit reiterated that the software “contains no generative AI features,” framing this as a “deliberate design position” rather than a rejection of AI as such. The central requirement is that users’ documents never leave the machine: no uploading to a server, no network connection required.

The rationale is data control and auditability. LibreOffice says it is used by tens of millions of people and organizations, and that any organization handling confidential, legally privileged, or personal data needs to know where that data goes. The only assurance that survives an audit, in the foundation’s view, is that data never leaves the device. That framing directly targets the common architecture of AI features, which typically require uploading data to remote servers where users have no control over how long it is stored or how it is processed.

The organization does not rule out AI forever. It currently has no integration that meets its requirements, which include keeping data on-device and avoiding reliance on a single AI provider. The decision is described as an assessment of the technology today, not a judgment on the value of the AI sector. Users who want AI features can still install extensions that connect LibreOffice to local AI models, but the default installation will remain free of any AI of any kind. The foundation also says it will closely monitor where the technology is heading.

The move counters the broader software industry trend of packing AI into products, sometimes to the detriment of user experience. The article notes the phenomenon of “enshittification,” where unnecessary features such as chatbots and AI assistants bloat software, which has prompted some developers to add features that block or remove AI. LibreOffice, as an open source alternative, is presented as part of that ecosystem of software that lets users avoid the data practices of large Silicon Valley companies.

The article is by Zack Whittaker, TechCrunch’s security editor, and includes the standard affiliate-link disclosure. The practical takeaway is that LibreOffice‘s no-AI stance is not purely ideological but grounded in a concrete design constraint: the default software must work fully offline and must not transmit user documents. Any future AI feature would have to satisfy that constraint, and no current integration does. Until then, the default build will stay AI-free, and the extension mechanism provides a controlled path for users who want local AI integration.