Repository: vscode
Issue: Adding "Copilot" menu for users who already uninstalled Copilot is deeply offensive
Labels: under-discussion,workbench-copilot

Long ago, I installed VS Code, and there was a "Copilot" extension. I uninstalled it immediately. I do not want to use Copilot, I do not want Copilot on my computer, I do not want to use software that is capable of integrating with Copilot. I want that trash completely off my computer.

Yet today I opened VSCode¹ and found a new menu:

![Image](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/0e5d44b7-7abd-44bf-8a19-72f3890152ea)

After poking around, I discovered I could disable it with a new checkbox.

![Image](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/9fabaf0e-e340-4bc4-96d0-50b1393de3e2)

But that is not good enough for me.

There are two problems here:

1. Those of us who have already uninstalled Copilot have already said no to Copilot. **We should not have to say no again.** This is the worst thing about Microsoft software these days— having to disable the same features over, and over, and over, as VPs get more desperate to juice metrics and software updates re-enable things we've already disabled. The checkbox should have been off by default for people who don't have the chatbot plugin installed, and for new users uninstalling the plugin should automatically uninstall the Copilot extension. You should respect our consent. Respect our humanity.

2. Although I've disabled the Copilot menu, I am unsatisfied because my copy of VS Code *still contains the Copilot menu code*. Previously I could remove all Copilot code completely by simply uninstalling the Copilot extension. Now, there's this little bridgehead of Copilot on my computer, inactive (until you enable it again) but still there. I want the infection gone completely.

My "**expected behavior**" is that you should remove the Copilot menu from VS Code and move the code that adds the menu into the Copilot extension. Or, to put it a different way, if you're going to put explicit Copilot support code into VS Code proper rather than quarantining it in the removable extension, then I personally **will** uninstall VS Code and switch to VS Codium, and you will have N-1 users. My policy is that I do not use software that can integrate with an AI chatbot. I will tolerate AI chatbot integration only if it is an extension that can be fully removed, as in iTerm2, Android Studio or (until the update this morning) older VS Code. I have already ditched SwiftKey over this, I'm avoiding Windows 11, and I am in the process of ditching Firefox (Firefox's "AI" integration works similarly to the new Copilot menu— there is an AI chatbot interface which is always present in the code, but it doesn't do anything until you install an AI plugin— that's not good enough. Even having the extension point present is too much: My complaint here is about moral rejection of something I consider harmful and repulsive, *not* about the actual behavior of my computer.)

This is a waste of time. I had work to do this morning and instead I'm having to clean corporate malware off my computer. If this is how you behave then VSCode is no longer a free program, it is something I am having to pay for with labor to keep the AI bugs out

- VS Code Version: 1.96.2 ("user setup")
- OS Version: Windows 10 19045.5247

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Open VSCode

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<small>¹ Before seeing this change, I had been on a non-C# project for two weeks and using an IDE other than VSCode. So maybe the update I'm objecting to here is older than today.</small>