--- title: AI Code Transforms C to Rust for Safer Software | daily.dev description: The Great Refactor initiative aims to use AI-powered tools to automatically convert 100 million lines of vulnerable C/C++ code in critical open-source... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/ai-code-transforms-c-to-rust-for-safer-software-xgjsw1cts twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: AI Code Transforms C to Rust for Safer Software | daily.dev og:description: The Great Refactor initiative aims to use AI-powered tools to automatically convert 100 million lines of vulnerable C/C++ code in critical open-source... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/ai-code-transforms-c-to-rust-for-safer-software-xgjsw1cts og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/xgjsW1Cts.png og:image:alt: AI Code Transforms C to Rust for Safer Software og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # AI Code Transforms C to Rust for Safer Software **[IEEE Spectrum](https://daily.dev/sources/ieeespectrum)** · 7 min read · 40 upvotes · 11 comments ## Summary The Great Refactor initiative aims to use AI-powered tools to automatically convert 100 million lines of vulnerable C/C++ code in critical open-source libraries into memory-safe Rust by 2030. Memory safety issues account for roughly 70% of software vulnerabilities, and while manual conversion requires thousands of hours, modern AI coding tools can now reliably translate programs up to 5,000 lines with oversight. DARPA's TRACTOR program is exploring hybrid approaches combining AI with classical code analysis. Key challenges include ensuring the translated code is maintainable by humans, the limited pool of Rust experts, and securing $100 million in government or private funding. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@altbenammi** · 4 upvotes > Using AI to translate code into a language that, due to language differences, usually requires different code paths and approaches to C. What could possibly go wrong? **@drury\_yl** · 4 upvotes > AI result is non deterministic. The same question will not generate the 2 same answers by AI. This is why this idea is not a good approach to solve the problem. **@a\_meb\_a** · 3 upvotes > really bad choice, to use AI to translate code.. code smelling, lack of architecture... **@nubprogrammer** · 3 upvotes > Rust expertise and funding hurdles remain the same. **@derozgur** · 2 upvotes > why would you transfer a c code to rust. rust is the most complex language ever ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Eliminating Memory Safety Vulnerabilities Once and For All](https://daily.dev/posts/eliminating-memory-safety-vulnerabilities-once-and-for-all-m0l9uxfrb) · Hacker News · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Canonical backs quest to translate mountains of C into safe Rust with AI](https://daily.dev/posts/canonical-backs-quest-to-translate-mountains-of-c-into-safe-rust-with-ai-s3vchgqgx) · The Register · 6 upvotes · 1 comments - [Rewriting the world in Rust — Bitfield Consulting](https://daily.dev/posts/rewriting-the-world-in-rust-bitfield-consulting-vxpqrwzmv) · Bitfield Consulting · 69 upvotes · 8 comments --- Tags: [#ai](https://daily.dev/tags/ai), [#cyber](https://daily.dev/tags/cyber), [#rust](https://daily.dev/tags/rust) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/ai-code-transforms-c-to-rust-for-safer-software-xgjsw1cts) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"AI Code Transforms C to Rust for Safer Software","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/ai-code-transforms-c-to-rust-for-safer-software-xgjsw1cts","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/ai-code-transforms-c-to-rust-for-safer-software-xgjsw1cts"},"datePublished":"2026-01-28T16:05:38.501Z","dateModified":"2026-01-28T16:05:58.215Z","description":"The Great Refactor initiative aims to use AI-powered tools to automatically convert 100 million lines of vulnerable C/C++ code in critical open-source...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/8482a3793468a0e5cea10199f1f5b310?_a=AQAEulh","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/8482a3793468a0e5cea10199f1f5b310?_a=AQAEulh","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"IEEE Spectrum","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"IEEE Spectrum","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/b123f5e8420e492ab36f6adb30c1793a","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/ieeespectrum"},"commentCount":11,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/ai-code-transforms-c-to-rust-for-safer-software-xgjsw1cts","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":40},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":11}],"keywords":"ai,cyber,rust","timeRequired":"PT7M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"IEEE Spectrum","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/ieeespectrum"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"AI Code Transforms C to Rust for Safer Software"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/ai-code-transforms-c-to-rust-for-safer-software-xgjsw1cts","comment":[{"@type":"Comment","text":"Using AI to translate code into a language that, due to language differences, usually requires different code paths and approaches to C. What could possibly go wrong?","datePublished":"2026-02-06T12:38:49.957Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/xgjsW1Cts#c-xmE9pL0Sj","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Benammi Swift","url":"https://daily.dev/altbenammi","image":"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a/ACg8ocKnQaJ6W3ccI-vmELguQS87VNShMSOp4SQVwvuMCuh58VxsvQ=s96-c"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":4}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"AI result is non deterministic. The same question will not generate the 2 same answers by AI. This is why this idea is not a good approach to solve the problem.","datePublished":"2026-02-07T06:49:02.331Z","dateModified":"2026-02-07T06:49:15.778Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/xgjsW1Cts#c-vapeW5q9W","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Drury Yudis Lumenta","url":"https://daily.dev/drury_yl","image":"https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a/ACg8ocLMRu0D9BP3MGa_L2es9p2HTWO8LPDEAVPkLdZsK4qikl0PmxPQ=s96-c"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":4}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"really bad choice, to use AI to translate code… code smelling, lack of architecture…","datePublished":"2026-02-11T12:23:04.857Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/xgjsW1Cts#c-hjODzdRl4","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Phillippe Michel Weir","url":"https://daily.dev/a_meb_a","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--BwH-uTMq--/f_auto/v1740136991/avatars/avatar_N403VFK9lAHNRwlSAhl1h"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":3}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"Rust expertise and funding hurdles remain the same.","datePublished":"2026-02-10T07:58:46.371Z","dateModified":"2026-02-10T07:58:57.179Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/xgjsW1Cts#c-tDFGYUpq0","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Atharv","url":"https://daily.dev/nubprogrammer","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--iKAhtmCU--/f_auto/v1760698008/avatars/avatar_EP7yoOu1w1OjIXSXdNYQq?_a=BAMAK+ZW0"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":3}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"why would you transfer a c code to rust. rust is the most complex language ever","datePublished":"2026-02-04T13:05:22.667Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/xgjsW1Cts#c-zTXnlXzz6","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Ozgur","url":"https://daily.dev/derozgur","image":"https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-S45a3-PbZfM/AAAAAAAAAAI/AAAAAAAAAlA/AAKWJJPXpfgpQB6kKn5SGhOaJNw8LH5GDQ/s100/photo.jpg"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":2}}]} ```