topic Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139! in Discussions

Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

gpendse — Tue, 10 Jun 2025 16:41:48 GMT

Hi everyone,

I’m Gayatri, the product manager for Firefox Search. With Firefox, you already have more choice in how you search the web than anywhere else — and now, we’re giving you even more.

You've told us you want an AI search partner — so we're launching an experiment with Perplexity, an AI-powered answer engine. If you're in the US, UK, or Germany, you may see it as an option in the address bar via the unified search button, which allows quick switching between search engines in Firefox.

Why Perplexity?

Perplexity is an AI-powered search engine that offers direct, conversational answers to your questions — so you don’t have to dig through pages of results. It’s especially helpful when:

✅ You want quick, concise answers without getting lost in multiple sources
📚 You’re researching or learning and need accurate, well-cited information
✍️ You’re working on creative or technical content, like blog posts or code snippets

This pilot is part of our broader goal to give users more choice when it comes to how they search — and which tools they trust to help them get things done. If the experience is positive, we may look to support more AI answers or search options in the future. Just a heads up: when you use a search provider in Firefox, you’re also agreeing to their privacy and policy terms. Every provider is a little different, so if you’re curious, feel free to check out Perplexity’s policy here. Perplexity maintains strict prohibitions against selling or sharing personal data and only processes information for the specific purposes outlined in its user agreements.

Help Us Get It Right

You can switch between different search or answer engines depending on what you’re looking for — and we’d love your feedback on where Perplexity stands out. Are there specific types of searches — like complex questions, summaries, how-tos, or creative prompts—where it gives you a better answer? Are there cases where a traditional search engine is your preferred choice instead?

Your input will help us understand when Perplexity adds real value, so we can surface it at the right moments and make the overall search experience in Firefox even more useful.

Thanks for being part of this journey with us. We can’t wait to hear what you think!

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

DavidBCNATL — Tue, 10 Jun 2025 21:12:41 GMT

If I'm located in Spain, is there an easy way for me to use this feature?

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

areeba — Wed, 11 Jun 2025 02:44:56 GMT

Just gave it a spin — super fast and clean integration! Love how it brings real-time answers right into the browser without needing to switch tabs. Definitely a step forward for smarter browsing. Curious to see how it evolves next!

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

Wolfie — Wed, 11 Jun 2025 15:49:55 GMT

didn't appreciate this being added to my search engine list without warning, I managed to type the trigger letter accidentally and open the chatbot page, easily removed from the list, but I'd rather it wasn't forced in the first place

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

cbellini — Thu, 12 Jun 2025 16:52:16 GMT

Yes, you can add Perplexity as a search option using the new address bar features that are broadly available as of Firefox 139. Start by:

Going to perplexity.ai.
While on Perplexity's site, type a query in the Firefox address bar, but instead of hitting ENTER, click the "Search with Perplexity" secondary action button. That will execute the search on Perplexity.
If you do Step 2 a second time (either with the same or different search terms), you'll see a prompt to install Perplexity as a built-in search option. Click "Add".

You will now have Perplexity as a search option with a default keyword of `@perplexity`. You can always customize that keyword and the order of it in your list of search engines in the Search section of Firefox's preferences.

Hope that helps!

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

as-warp — Thu, 12 Jun 2025 17:12:32 GMT

Any chance of getting the PPLX Ai Companion browser integration too? I mean, like not in two or three years for a tiny selected groups country...

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

Dan — Thu, 12 Jun 2025 17:18:45 GMT

Thanks a lot! Hope it turns out to be useful to everyone testing this!

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

silverbacknet — Thu, 12 Jun 2025 18:51:47 GMT

I have no idea what Perplexity is, or who is behind it, all I know is that I was given no warning and no opt-in to activate it, given no explanation of what it was that was installed, and do not trust AI search in any way, making this effectively a form of insidious spyware to me. I have removed this engine, but I have no idea what other effects it may have caused, and my trust in Mozilla is quite shaken.

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

Wolfie — Thu, 12 Jun 2025 19:42:48 GMT

so if what you actually did was make it *possible* to add this chatbot as a search engine, then why also automatically add it for people who don't want it without notifying us it was being added?

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

ryan32621 — Fri, 28 Nov 2025 06:34:15 GMT

Interesting update from Firefox - giving users more choice with AI search is always a win. I’ve noticed the same trend on streaming platforms too; even when I was trying out FreeCine, having quick ways to switch and find what I want made the experience way smoother.

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

jarg0naut — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 07:54:41 GMT

I'm a little disappointed to hear about this. Part of why I use Firefox is because I consider it a kinder alternative to other browsers - more security conscious, open and transparent, and considerate of its users - so I hope you also take into account the many people who are worried about the environmental impact of AI search engines. They aren't much easier to use than search engines, and every use is far more energy and water intensive than a search on a traditional search engine. Is there a way to disable Perplexity or a way to provide feedback to Mozilla regarding this feature?

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

lackey — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 10:34:24 GMT

"You've told us you want an AI search partner"

This request has only 86 kudos. Much more popular requests include:

No AI in Firefox (996 kudos)
Add StartPage search (1,171 kudos)

I signed up to this forum to make my voice heard, but time and time again I see Mozilla employees choose (and interact with) predetermined options and agreeable perspectives. But since you haven't shut down the site yet:

No more AI in our browser, please.

It is unethical by its very nature.

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

Septimus — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 11:35:18 GMT

Doesn’t work on MacOS 139 sadly.

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

jrlanglois — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 13:24:39 GMT

+1 to this. First and foremost, I should be clear that I personally want an AI-free environment.

In my opinion, the proper UX should be off-by-default and made an option, where a user can decide if they want this enabled via a prompt. This is the more secure route and gives the user the freedom to consent. This is a balanced take.

My personal take is that Firefox should have 0% AI. If people want any AI, websites and extensions are the way to go: it's a very deliberate choice on the user's part.

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

Lovelymafia — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 14:17:27 GMT

Dont need it, dont want it. Please try and not add and enable stuff without asking for user consent first. If this trend continues ... people will disable all kinds of auto-updates in fear of getting something shoved into their faces ... and they will likely be more vulnerable because they wont be up to date with security fixes.

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

DonutRush — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 14:54:25 GMT

This **bleep** makes me so mad. They lie straight to your face when they actually deign to respond to people who didn't drink the LLM kool-aid.

LLMs are not effective tools for summary or search. This is yet another thoughtless and dangerous addition Mozilla is cramming into Firefox to trend chase.

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

DonutRush — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 14:55:12 GMT

LLMs are not reliable tools, ESPECIALLY NOT FOR SEARCH. Stop adding this slop to your browser and return to reality.

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

as-warp — Sat, 14 Jun 2025 07:42:00 GMT

Just installed PPLX, gave it sentience, and it already left me for a smarter browser. But don’t worry, I wrapped my laptop in tinfoil and whispered my consent... so we’re good. Pretty sure the drone assigned to silence me is stuck in a CAPTCHA loop.

Careful folks: if you speak its name three times, the AI might autocomplete your thoughts and forward them to the toaster. If you're reading this, you're already compromised. Just lie still, close Firefox, and let the update finish rewriting the manifesto.

I'm serious: unplug your Ethernet cables now: the AI is learning your preferred toast setting via microwave telemetry. Don’t say I didn’t warn you when your smart fridge starts drafting FLOSS licenses and policy memos in fluent Orwellian.

Stay strong, comrades of the opt-out resistance.

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

Rainquack — Sat, 14 Jun 2025 17:49:30 GMT

Don't you love seeing the Employee/Admin/Community Manager kudoing this factually wrong (it opens a external webpage of some shady company in a new tab), AI generated slop answer (just read it - also huge sign: the em-dash "—". Next rare positive-reply suspect here in the replies is ryan32621, with their Lying Autocomplete Word Guesser model being trained to mention haircuts, for some reason.)

Absolutely zero common sense. Good luck making stuff by bots, for bots, if that's your preferred userbase.
(I highly recommend Evan Edinger's newest YT video on how to spot AI writing)

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

areeba — Wed, 18 Jun 2025 03:41:06 GMT

That sounds interesting! I’ve been hearing a lot about Perplexity AI lately, and integrating it directly into Firefox 139 seems like a smart move. It’s great to see browsers evolving to support AI-powered tools right out of the box. Curious to see how it compares with traditional search engines in terms of accuracy and speed. Has anyone tried it yet for complex queries or research-heavy tasks? Would love to hear your experiences!

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

fool — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 18:50:35 GMT

I don't like this. I don't want AI in Firefox.

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

rush2ryme — Thu, 19 Jun 2025 19:45:05 GMT

I literally made this account just to provide feedback, I am disgusted and beyond disappointed with Mozilla for embracing this ridiculous AI trend. Firefox has been for years a browser I could feel good about using and supporting, and the inclusion of this garbage has completely shattered that illusion. I don't know where I go from here since this AI bull**bleep** is invading every aspect of human life, but it is clear that my perception of Mozilla as an ethical group was off base.

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

Wolfie — Fri, 20 Jun 2025 12:18:08 GMT

Just seen that the BBC is considering legal action against perplexity for using their content without authorisation, this is the chatbot firefox wants to be promoting?

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

kailasanathan_k — Sun, 29 Jun 2025 15:00:25 GMT

I'm from India and i'm waiting for this a long ago...

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

Dan — Sun, 29 Jun 2025 15:07:56 GMT

@kailasanathan_k wrote:
I'm from India and i'm waiting for this a long ago...

*have been, I guess

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

kailasanathan_k — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 01:36:44 GMT

Sorry for the grammatical mistake

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

areeba — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 16:56:57 GMT

Really interesting update! Integrating Perplexity AI Search into Firefox 139 feels like a smart move—especially for users who prefer more conversational, context-aware results. It's great to see browsers evolving beyond traditional search. I’ve tried it, and the speed and relevance of answers are impressive so far. Curious to see how this changes daily browsing habits in the long run!

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

T-M-T — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 17:19:20 GMT

Disgusting. Immediately disabled all of it through the about:config dialogue, AI is god awful and should be removed, not added.

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

Proxiehunter — Tue, 01 Jul 2025 20:30:12 GMT

Who told you that? Get this AI out of my browser now.

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

mklutz — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 00:35:27 GMT

Part of the reason I use firefox instead of other browsers is to avoid AI slop and the plagiarism/mediocrity machine. Please stop adding AI to your product, it's trash. And it should be easier to remove or disable than it was.

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

SF19 — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 01:47:01 GMT

Whole-hardheartedly agree. DNW AI

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

SF19 — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 01:55:10 GMT

I use Firefox because I don't want AI embedded in anything. It's unethical and a hazard to the environment. I disabled it and should not have to take as many steps as it required to do so. I think Firefox should not include AI in its products but if you do, make it opt-in not opt-out please.

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

majesticmini471 — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 19:37:14 GMT

Is the Artificial Intelligence hosted by your Firefox or another program on your device(s), or must you run it by third-party accessibility? When Artificial Intelligence cannot be administrated by its user(s), it does not help, at all.

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

kailasanathan_k — Thu, 10 Jul 2025 07:26:57 GMT

As an Android user from India, I want this option in my country too. If people doesn't want any AI features in their browser at least can you guys give perplexity icon to that search engine?? I hate to see that P letter icon whenever i use Perplexity. Doesn't necessarily pushed as a default search option but just consider adding icon to it. That is enough for me.

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

Cstern — Fri, 11 Jul 2025 22:33:04 GMT

Pathetic. Who on earth asked for this--and more importantly, how do I root this useless, unethical, environmentally destructive, lie-generating trash out of my browser root and branch?

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

Agentvirtuel — Sat, 12 Jul 2025 04:16:09 GMT

Hello

Is it about the subject Access AI chatbots in Firefox
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/ai-chatbot

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1518067#answer-1743528
You can try, browser.ml.chat.enabled

For information purposes
1 - Go to Configuration Editor for Firefox https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/about-config-editor-firefox
2 - Enter a search term browser.ml.chat.enabled and try value false, if you wish.

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

TMT — Sat, 12 Jul 2025 05:29:31 GMT

Or- stay with me here- AI can get the hell out of this browser entirely and for the rest of time without users having to use commands to TURN IT OFF.

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

Agentvirtuel — Sat, 12 Jul 2025 06:05:50 GMT

Hello

For those who are interested, to try.

Take a look at https://www.camp-firefox.de/forum/thema/139576-perplexity-aus-der-suchmaschinen-liste-verschwunden (among others) https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/add-or-remove-search-engine-firefox Add a custom search engine in Settings.

You can try
1 - Go to Configuration Editor for Firefox https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/about-config-editor-firefox
2 - Enter a search term browser.search.experiment and click on String button and click on Add button.
3 - Enter perplexity and click on Save button.

Result below

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

kailasanathank — Tue, 15 Jul 2025 10:46:43 GMT

Looking forward in Firefox Android

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

majesticmini471 — Tue, 15 Jul 2025 23:56:40 GMT

Have you tried WineHQ for MacOS? It is why UNIX need to come back.

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

orz — Tue, 12 Aug 2025 20:12:12 GMT

Nobody ever asked for an AI search partner. Keep all that AI crap away from me or I will abandon Mozilla... The new leadership seems to be entirely detached from reality ... LibreWolf already looks like the winner in my eyes!

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

usatube — Wed, 13 Aug 2025 17:17:54 GMT

This option is not in my firefox browser, why?

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

Agentvirtuel — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 08:09:31 GMT

Hello

Have you tried, browser.search.experiment https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/discussions/try-out-perplexity-ai-search-in-firefox-139/m-p/100560/highlight/true#M39051

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

Deciare — Tue, 19 Aug 2025 16:58:37 GMT

AI is excellent for extracting relevant information from a large number of sources, some of which are written in different languages, and cutting through fluff to get to relevant information. I've been using Perplexity to research hair colouring, a subject that is rife with opinions and self-promotion. It has been very helpful to be able to distill common recommendations and warnings.

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

urfy — Sat, 23 Aug 2025 23:45:38 GMT

I've been on the internet since 1996, when Netscape Navigator was the browser; that was paid-for; but that was torpedoed by Microsoft when they bundled Internet Explorer with Windows. I naturally moved to Firefox when it came out, and it has always been by far the best browser.

So I'm saddened that you have fallen for the AI fad; everyone knows that it is highly unreliable and erratic, such as the hallucinations and returning different answers to slightly differently phrased questions - I could go on. The entities involved are spending and losing billions, and it is another dotcom boom and bust in the making.

Over the years Firefox has slowly been consuming more power; I assume that AI will add to this.

Please reconsider; AI on Firefox is the antithesis for everything it stands for.

Best wishes

urfy.t

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

Dan — Mon, 25 Aug 2025 16:53:46 GMT

But when being aware of the risks, it's a super super useful tool! Even Jensen himself (the man behind the company that makes the LLM-hardware) endorsed Perplexity last year already 💡 💡 💡

And how did you measure power usage of solely the browser, over the years?

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

Cryptomancer — Sun, 31 Aug 2025 23:13:05 GMT

When will you remove it?

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

concept — Mon, 01 Sep 2025 06:30:40 GMT

Incredibly disappointing.

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

YouCannae — Mon, 08 Sep 2025 08:57:21 GMT

Having an addon from Mozilla that gives you this crap, fine.

Putting it into the browser itself, very much not fine.

Putting it into the browser in a way that you have to use about:config to stop it properly, what on earth were the people responsible thinking?

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

haingdc — Sun, 28 Sep 2025 02:35:39 GMT

I heard about Perflexity for a while but I never use it. Read this topic and I decided to gave it a try from 2 weeks ago. Let's Perplexity is as my primary search engine. I think It has good potential. It provides my more context and suggest for related things to my questions. That's a plus point. An important point is that The search engine supports very well my native language as I come from Vietnam. On the other hand, I still need use Google search. Many times, when I'm typing key words first then select search engine before submit. I have to kind of move cursor to the start and type "@" character. There is something in my mind that It's hard to say. If I select search engine first then type keyword. I feel that everything will be neat, smooth. I guess I'll remind myself the next times I will do in right order. About my using URL bar, I always use "@" character to select search engine and in search engine list I have dozen ones. I consider be a Multiple-search-engine User (> 4 search engines

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

trinitrotoluene — Thu, 09 Oct 2025 20:22:19 GMT

have you tried using
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/perplexity-omnibox
and adding it in settings?

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

Agentvirtuel — Fri, 10 Oct 2025 04:28:09 GMT

Hello

For information purposes.
Since https://www.firefox.com/en-US/firefox/140.0/releasenotes

Custom Search Engines: Firefox now supports adding even more search engines. To add a custom engine, right-click a search field of a supported website and select “Add Search Engine”, or go to Settings > Search > Add (below the search shortcuts table) to manually enter a search URL.

Add or remove a search engine in Firefox.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/add-or-remove-search-engine-firefox.

Add a custom search engine in Settings

https://www.perplexity.ai/search?q=%s

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

SongPoua — Tue, 14 Oct 2025 15:19:50 GMT

Thanks for sharing!

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

jadranka — Fri, 17 Oct 2025 21:50:54 GMT

I have recently downloaded Perplexity on my Laptop. They gave me a link for downloading on my mobile phone where there is downloaded Perplexity as an App that I use frequently.

The name of icon of my Perplexity on my laptop desktop is Comet. I find out Perplexity as a good AI tool and now as a browser. It gives full answers on your question taking many research options from many sites etc., giving also links in addition for many refer sites and offering in addition help in form of modified questions that refer to your research topic.

I recommend anyone to try this new very good toll.

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

DuskTheUmbreon — Sun, 19 Oct 2025 21:53:09 GMT

I'm deeply disappointed by this change.

Firefox is a browser. It is designed to bring information to people. It's not supposed to offer the misinformation machine as a legitimate method of achieving actual information.

It may be trivial to remove, but it's still incredibly disappointing that it was added, without user consent, in the first place.

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

JargE — Thu, 23 Oct 2025 15:08:48 GMT

Actually, I don't want any AI tools in my web browser, especially not forced on me automatically. If more keep being put into Firefox I will have to switch to one of the forks that does not support the continued use of AI.

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

anon67867856785 — Wed, 29 Oct 2025 22:16:52 GMT

I don't want an AI agent scrapping all my personal data just to sell it to corporations and potentially be stolen by hackers and exposed by data-leaks.

Shame on YOU for pushing these AI bull**bleep** down everyone's throat.

You have just lost a 20+ years user with this move. You are just SHAMEFUL!

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

cbellini — Thu, 30 Oct 2025 18:46:43 GMT

For clarity, like other search engines that are bundled with Firefox (e.g. Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, Wikipedia, etc.), your data is not scraped and sold. Firefox merely sends your query that you type to the search engine that you select - Perplexity in this case - to use to run a search.

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

DuskTheUmbreon — Fri, 31 Oct 2025 02:55:54 GMT

I can independently verify that this is true. Genslop companies don't feed user inputs back into their datasets directly, because that's the fastest way to get the genslop praising hitler there is. Microsoft learned that lesson with their twitter chatbot a decade ago.

That doesn't make forcing genslop upon users acceptable, though. This is something that absolutely needs to be reverted

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

enricos — Wed, 05 Nov 2025 18:50:03 GMT

Climate change is already killing lots of people in India, do you really want to support a technology that accelerates climate change? Even if you didn't care about other people, don't you care about your own survival?

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

Dase — Sun, 09 Nov 2025 18:07:15 GMT

Been on Firefox since 2005, but this is where I get off. You've done nothing but make the browser actively worse for the last ten years, with bloat and needless UI changes, your reward being a market share in the single digits.

And now you're dead set on terminally en**bleep**tifying it with the same LLM features that nobody asked for anywhere. Yes, I know I can disable it with config flags, but it's clear that your focus is no longer on maintaining a good web browser, but rather chase the same singularly stupid trend that the rest of the industry is betting the farm on for no reason whatsoever.

I don't want AI anywhere. I am not alone in feeling this way. Stop trying to force this putrid slop down our throats.

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

cbellini — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 14:23:24 GMT

Perplexity, like other search engines in Firefox, can be user-customized not via advanced config flags, but instead directly from the Search preferences. You have choice in disabling or removing it:

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

DuskTheUmbreon — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 14:38:56 GMT

It's not a search engine. Stop pretending it is. It's a glorified autocomplete with a long history of just making **bleep** up.

And it genuinely does not matter if it can be removed or not - it's still a violation of basic decency and the principles Firefox is founded on to force a disinformation machine onto people in the first place.

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

Wolfie — Tue, 11 Nov 2025 20:38:52 GMT

Why was it enabled by default though? We shouldn't be forced to opt out of all this stuff

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

olsticky — Fri, 14 Nov 2025 21:02:46 GMT

with all the recent security vulnerabilities in ai, backdoor code injection, drive by code injection, how do i disable this feature ever being near my pc.

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

Dan — Sat, 15 Nov 2025 00:17:59 GMT

Most important is not to use RAG, olsticky. Just my 2 cents. -> https://www.perplexity.ai/page/windows-recall-security-flaws-Q5a7MAJWTn.KWGoDocbbmA

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

cbellini — Sat, 15 Nov 2025 21:41:04 GMT

A few more clarifications that might not have been in the original post in this thread, and could help.

Perplexity in Firefox is exactly like other search engines that are included with Firefox - your keywords are submitted to the search engine when you have it selected either as your default engine or you engage in its search mode. This only occurs by either selecting it from the unified search button in the address bar or typing its shortcut keyword and then typing your query in the address bar. There is no AI search engine from Perplexity running on your device as part of Firefox or any Perplexity code built into Firefox. All it means is that when Perplexity is set as the default search engine and/or you've switched to the Perplexity search mode:

your address bar input is sent to perplexity.ai to fetch suggestions so that suggestions are shown as you type to fetch suggestions
when you submit a search after entering in the address bar (e.g. pressing ENTER), it's sent to perplexity.ai and your browser navigates to their site

And if you never engage the Perplexity search mode via the methods that I mentioned, nothing is ever sent to Perplexity.

Hopefully that helps, but if not, I'd be happy to provide more details on how this was implemented.

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

Dick_Nation — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 21:47:13 GMT

Deleted this horse puckey from my search engines immediately. You "heard" only the suggestions of trend-chasing management. No users wanted this, and the people who did could easily have added it via their methods. This was a distinct choice to force an unpopular idea on your user base. Remove it.

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

DonutRush — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 21:53:21 GMT

Perplexity is NOT a search engine. It is a word predictor. This is being disingenuous, because Mozilla developers can't understand that the magic code scaffolding tool is not a source of infinite wisdom and truth.

The fact that you guys are building a shortcut to this snake oil into the browser, and now designing an "entire AI window" around this garbage, continues to prove how out of touch with reality you have become.

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

raster — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 02:51:00 GMT

Many Firefox users do not way AI. If you force it upon us please give us a way to DISABLE it.

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

Devilpants — Sat, 22 Nov 2025 21:39:21 GMT

Buddy, you would have to pay me to use this trash. The fact that this got added in defiance of the overwhelming backlash against AI shows me that mozilla's leadership don't care at all about what the average user wants out of firefox. Are you still upset that NFT integration fell through? Did you lose all your metaverse investments? Did your meme coin crash? If you're this into AI, I know you were into all of those ill-fated ventures, too. The fact that you're allowed to make decisions that affect the entire userbase has me wanting to switch browsers and never look back. I've got no faith in mozilla anymore.

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

lackey — Thu, 04 Dec 2025 00:32:57 GMT

Can you clarify why Perplexity got special mention within Firefox when it updated? It seems it is getting more promotion than "just another search engine."

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

Onko — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 23:31:23 GMT

There needs to be a way to disable/remove it on mobile as well.

Re: Try Out Perplexity AI Search in Firefox 139!

hackel — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 21:00:13 GMT

Why is Perplexity added as a "search engine" (which it most certainly is not), but not as an "AI Chatbot"? One might say I'm perplexed...