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Microsoft Clarifies Rust Translation Push as Research, Not a Windows 11 Rewrite

The company says the effort is a research program to build AI‑assisted tooling rather than a plan to rewrite Windows.

Overview

  • Galen Hunt’s LinkedIn post described a goal to eliminate C and C++ at Microsoft by 2030 and a “North Star” of “1 engineer, 1 month, 1 million lines of code,” estimating roughly one billion lines to modernize internally.
  • After the post drew attention, Hunt edited it to state that Windows is not being rewritten in Rust with AI and characterized the work as a research project.
  • Microsoft communications, including spokesperson Frank X. Shaw, said there is no plan to rewrite Windows 11 using AI, reinforcing that the current work focuses on research and tooling.
  • The technical approach outlined by Hunt includes building a scalable graph over source code and applying AI agents guided by algorithms to make large‑scale, automated code modifications.
  • A job listing seeks a Principal Software Engineer in CoreAI’s EngHorizons group to evolve infrastructure for translating large C/C++ systems to Rust, reflecting ongoing but incremental Rust adoption already seen in parts of Windows and Azure.