LibreOffice excludes generative AI from default installations

The Document Foundation, the nonprofit behind the open-source office suite LibreOffice, has announced that it will not include generative AI in its default software installations for the foreseeable future. This decision, highlighted in the release of LibreOffice 26.8, is a deliberate design choice aimed at prioritizing user privacy, data control, and offline functionality.

The foundation cited several requirements that current AI integrations fail to meet, including the need for local data processing, the avoidance of dependence on single external providers, and the prevention of unauthorized data uploads to remote servers. By keeping AI out of the core installation, LibreOffice ensures that sensitive documents—such as legal, medical, or personal files—remain on the user's device without mandatory telemetry or cloud processing.

While generative AI is not part of the default suite, users who desire these features can still install third-party extensions. These extensions allow connections to local models or external services like OpenAI, giving users the choice to opt-in rather than having AI features forced into the user interface. The foundation noted that this is not a permanent rejection of the technology, but rather a commitment to its core principles of sovereignty and security.