JetBrains faces a trust crisis as its controversial review removal policy for its unpopular AI Assistant plugin comes under fire. With over 22 million downloads but a dismal 2.3/5 rating, the company’s decision to delete negative feedback has sparked skepticism among developers who already complain about the tool’s performance issues and intrusive behavior. This incident highlights the growing tensions between AI tool providers and their users as companies struggle to balance honest feedback with product reputation management.
The controversy: JetBrains has defended removing negative reviews of its AI Assistant plugin, claiming the deletions were policy-compliant or addressed outdated content.
- Users noticed their critical reviews disappearing, with one commenting: “My previous comment was deleted without any specific reason… I still give it 1 star, because it installed automatically and is slow and buggy.”
- The company admitted it could have handled the situation better, acknowledging that “Nuking several reviews at once without a heads-up looked shady.”
Behind the complaints: Despite its widespread adoption with over 22 million downloads, JetBrains AI Assistant maintains a poor 2.3 out of 5 rating due to persistent issues.
- Users cite limited third-party model support, noticeable latency, frequent delays, and features locked to JetBrains cloud services among their primary concerns.
- The plugin’s tendency to install itself without permission has particularly frustrated developers, with one Reddit user describing it as “the annoying self-healing/reinstalling phoenix of a plug-in.”
Market pressures: JetBrains appears to be responding to competitive forces in the AI development tools space.
- The company recently introduced a free tier for its AI Assistant and launched a new AI agent called Junie.
- Cost considerations play a significant role in these decisions, as AI services tend to be processor-intensive and expensive to provide.
Why this matters: This incident exposes the tension between managing public perception and maintaining user trust for companies offering AI development tools, suggesting that suppressing negative feedback might damage credibility more than the original complaints themselves.
Recent Stories
DOE fusion roadmap targets 2030s commercial deployment as AI drives $9B investment
The Department of Energy has released a new roadmap targeting commercial-scale fusion power deployment by the mid-2030s, though the plan lacks specific funding commitments and relies on scientific breakthroughs that have eluded researchers for decades. The strategy emphasizes public-private partnerships and positions AI as both a research tool and motivation for developing fusion energy to meet data centers' growing electricity demands. The big picture: The DOE's roadmap aims to "deliver the public infrastructure that supports the fusion private sector scale up in the 2030s," but acknowledges it cannot commit to specific funding levels and remains subject to Congressional appropriations. Why...
Oct 17, 2025Tying it all together: Credo’s purple cables power the $4B AI data center boom
Credo, a Silicon Valley semiconductor company specializing in data center cables and chips, has seen its stock price more than double this year to $143.61, following a 245% surge in 2024. The company's signature purple cables, which cost between $300-$500 each, have become essential infrastructure for AI data centers, positioning Credo to capitalize on the trillion-dollar AI infrastructure expansion as hyperscalers like Amazon, Microsoft, and Elon Musk's xAI rapidly build out massive computing facilities. What you should know: Credo's active electrical cables (AECs) are becoming indispensable for connecting the massive GPU clusters required for AI training and inference. The company...
Oct 17, 2025Vatican launches Latin American AI network for human development
The Vatican hosted a two-day conference bringing together 50 global experts to explore how artificial intelligence can advance peace, social justice, and human development. The event launched the Latin American AI Network for Integral Human Development and established principles for ethical AI governance that prioritize human dignity over technological advancement. What you should know: The Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, the Vatican's research body for social issues, organized the "Digital Rerum Novarum" conference on October 16-17, combining academic research with practical AI applications. Participants included leading experts from MIT, Microsoft, Columbia University, the UN, and major European institutions. The conference...