JetBrains defends removal of negative reviews for unpopular AI Assistant

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Perception of JetBrains’ AI Assistant Strategy

  • Many see the AI Assistant as repeatedly mishandled: first bundled and hard to remove, now aggressively surfaced in the UI even when disabled.
  • Several comments frame this as desperation to monetize AI rather than serving users, with some saying “we could have done better” has become a pattern without real course correction.
  • Some users report they can only truly remove it by manually deleting installation files.

Trust, Reviews, and Marketplace Policy

  • Removing negative reviews because issues were “fixed” is widely criticized as illegitimate and trust‑eroding.
  • Users argue old reviews are still valuable signals about release quality and company behavior, even if bugs are later resolved.
  • Skepticism that third‑party plugin authors get the same privilege, raising concerns about JetBrains exploiting its dual role as marketplace owner and vendor.
  • Suggested alternatives: public replies marking issues as fixed, version‑tagged reviews, transparent down‑weighting of obsolete reviews, or linking to YouTrack issues rather than deletion.
  • A minority defends the idea of de‑emphasizing outdated reviews, but even they are uneasy with unilateral removal.

Product Quality and Direction

  • Multiple reports of regressions: slowness, freezes, plugins causing huge delays, UI changes breaking workflows, long‑standing bugs never fixed.
  • Some users have stopped updating or canceled licenses, feeling JetBrains now prioritizes upsell and AI over core stability and long‑standing pain points.
  • Others counter that certain IDEs (e.g., Rider, PyCharm) remain best‑in‑class and more reliable than competitors.

AI Integration vs. Core IDE Value

  • Many resent AI being enabled or promoted by default, especially given its cost and mixed quality compared to alternatives (Copilot, Cursor, Windsurf/Codeium).
  • Frustration that JetBrains seems focused on its own cloud models instead of excellent integration with third‑party or local models and user‑supplied API keys.
  • Some see this as classic disruption: newcomers like Cursor can deeply embed AI without legacy user backlash, while JetBrains is stuck between AI‑enthusiast and AI‑averse cohorts.

Monetization, Kotlin, and Legality

  • Kotlin is cited as an earlier example of strategic monetization (driving IntelliJ Ultimate sales), feeding a narrative that business goals increasingly override user interests.
  • One commenter questions whether review removal could violate new FTC rules on deceptive reviews; others note enforcement and applicability are unclear.