Yes, the virtualization company on ARM platforms called Corellium has managed to make Ubuntu work on the new generation of chips Apple M1. This has been confirmed by the company's CEO, Chris Wade, who has mentioned it on his official Twitter account.
«Linux is now completely usable on Mac Mini M1. Booting a complete Ubuntu desktop (the version for Raspberry Pi) from the USB. The network works through a USB-C dongle. The update includes support for USB, I2C, DART. We will push the changes to our GitHub and a tutorial later today.«.
It is true that Linus Torvalds announced that it was complicated, and it is also true that it is not an x86 distro, but they have used the ARM version they use for the Pi, but it is a big step to be able to run a distro on the Apple M1. In addition, they have achieved it quite quickly and the results are promising for the future.
Asahi Linux is also trying to do something similar, but in a parallel project. So, we will see more of these Linux systems running about Apple M1. In addition, according to Corellium, they are also supporting this other project, as they commented from the official account with a tweet. So this is great news for those who have an Apple M1 and want to use Linux.
However, it is not without its drawbacks. As Linus Torvalds hinted, the most complicated thing would be the GPU support of the Apple M1. And, at the moment, this project does not have full acceleration support for the GPU, so the rendering is done by software.
More information about the Corellium project - Project site on GitHub
More information about the Asahi Linux project- Official Web