Building AI the Firefox way: Shaping what’s next together

[Jolie]

Hi everyone,

We recently shared how we’re approaching AI in Firefox with user choice and openness at the center of everything we build. We’ve heard from many of you who’d prefer not to have AI in your browser at all, and we get it: We will soon provide additional settings for you to control how AI is used (or not) in Firefox.

Nonetheless, standing still while technology moves forward doesn’t benefit the web or the people who use it. That’s why we see it as our responsibility to shape how AI integrates into the web, in ways that promote openness, transparency, and choice. That way, users and developers can use it freely, help shape it, and truly benefit from it.

You’ve already seen this approach in some of our latest features:
💬 AI Chatbot in the sidebar – Access your preferred chat assistant without switching tabs.
📱 Shake to Summarize on iOS – Quickly summarize pages and stay focused on what matters.

Now we’re working on something new, and we’d love your input.

What is AI Window?

AI Window is an intelligent space we’re building that lets you chat with an AI assistant and get help while you browse, all on your terms.

✅ Completely opt-in: You decide if and when to use it.
🔄 Model flexibility: Pick the AI model that best fits your needs.
⚙️ Full control: Easily toggle it on or off anytime.

Help us shape the future

We’re still early in development and want your feedback. Starting today, you can sign up to receive updates.

[Mfitts]

This is discouraging. I do not want this. You are moving me away from Firefox. 

[Firesphere]

Dear Mozilla,

Please stop what you are doing. Take a breath. You don't have to chase every new thing, like a kitten chasing a shred of paper

Please, stop this AI nonsense. As you can see from the responses in the community, the overwhelming response is that people are not waiting for you to join in on the craze.

Focus on what needs to be done, before adding what can be done. Right now, your users are asking for a simple way to turn all this genAI nonsense off. Focus on that. A single setting, easily found, which will completely remove any trace of these Large Lying Machine integrations.

And of course, respect this setting (unlike Microsoft/Google, who will turn it back at every corner).

---

You’ve already seen this approach in some of our latest features:
💬AI Chatbot in the sidebar – Access your preferred chat assistant without switching tabs.
📱Shake to Summarize on iOS – Quickly summarize pages and stay focused on what matters.

What I'm seeing in these features, is not an open, transparent, choice. I had to go and find all the toggles in about:config. That's not open nor transparent that's hidden. Sure one could argue that it is possible to find. It does not, however, make it open or transparent. It reminds me of the Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy.

For users that are not used to digging into the configuration, this is how the current state of affairs is regarding to the genAI integrations you are building.

I'll leave the quote from the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy here

---

“But the plans were on display…”
“On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them.”
“That’s the display department.”
“With a flashlight.”
“Ah, well, the lights had probably gone.”
“So had the stairs.”
“But look, you found the notice, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” said Arthur, “yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard.”

[nativeit]

Sounds like we need to move the Firefox dev team in with the leopard. 

[Jolie]

We hear you. We are actively working on a single, easy switch to turn off all AI features at once if that’s what feels right for you without needing to go to about:config. 

[MikeTaylor]

This is welcome news. Not as welcome as "We will stop wasting time, money and effort on all these features no-one wants", sure; but better than "You WILL like all these new features that no-one wants."

[murb]

If it is added it should be a paid feature you should opt into. Nobody wants this crap other than perhaps play around. 

[fraggedy_andy]

At BEST, this should be opt-in only or a downloadable extension, as several people mentioned, NEVER opt-out. That's what internet privacy is all about.

I've deleted Firefox from my phone and while it's actively installed on my desktop and laptop machines, I don't use it because of this. I actively seek out options that don't utilize AI. It feels like every time I give Mozilla a chance, you all do something new to get on the wrong foot. I'm losing faith that you all can right the ship. 

This is progress, but it just feels like a stream of unforced errors and I don't know if it's coming from the upper management of Mozilla or if it's just a complete misunderstanding of your user base. You guys claim to be a browser with strong privacy settings, but every time I setup a new instance, I have to do a deep dive to get some sane settings, only to find things getting switched back on or some stupid add-on for a TV show that freaks everyone out or an absolutely obtuse rewrite of your privacy statement.

[Jolie]

You are correct, the AI window is completely opt-in, and our priority remains the same: building a fast, reliable, and independent browser that puts people, not tech fads, first.

[ogre_bones]

Who wrote this response for you? Because it's just corporate baloney.  AI is literally the latest tech bubble fad, you aren't fooling anyone.  

[DonutRush]

If you weren't putting tech fads first, you would not be pretending the concept of an "AI Window", a fake thing, is something an actual person wants.

[suikaz]

extras are nice when basics are covered, but we still don't have configurable shortcuts nor mouse gestures that actually work

or you know what? we had them before!

[elzar]

That may be YOUR priority but it is not management's. If it was, none of this would even exist. No one would have even proposed this monumentally stupid idea.

this reeks of insecure management who think recognizing AI means they're smart and keeping up with things. It's all present in the verbiage of your original post.

[hazeltheamazel]

If you meant what you say here, this post never would have been made. don't waste time on AI "features" no one wants.

[nimu]

i CANNOT believe you just answered someone questioning AI features with an AI generated answer. how stupid do you think we are???

[samyotix]

How very believable coming from a company that has started talking to effing Meta about selling customer data...

Your AI crap is not totally opt in, even this forum is filled with AI spam.

[CHaSeD]

If you're going to lie to us, at least try and make it believable.

[clayote]

Well, that's better than the alternative, and might be the best Mozilla can do in its position as the controlled opposition to Google. If you distributed the AI features as an extension, people wouldn't use them, after all; AI is unpopular.

I wish there were a browser that implemented features users wanted, and didn't implement features we didn't want. Alas, there's far less money in Servo.

[The_Owlbear]

Or you could just stop with the AI nonsense at all. Then we won't need a switch. Think of all the time you'd save by just deleting the AI code.

[woe2you]

Every single response is saying that AI features are as welcome as dog**bleep** in a swimming pool. Hear that, take it on board and just remove the thing that nobody wants altogether.

[DonutRush]

"We hear you. And we're pushing ahead with adding as much slop into our browser as possible. That's what you hogs want right, more garbage?"

[wwahammy]

Why is this something that needs to be "worked on"? If the user is in control, why is consent not requested before deploying the feature? 

[styfore]

What about no ai at all and instead you invest development time into a fast, private and a reliable browser.

We don't want ai, but i wanted to.. I already have forced AI with microsoft os

[noxypaws]

I'm sorry but this unacceptable. It needs to be completely opt-in. Absolutely none of it should be enabled by default.

[patrizia]

It's a little sad that this is only been worked on now, rather than before any of the AI stuff was initially integrated.

[slithica]

No, if you heard us you wouldn't include it at all and nobody would need to disable the "features".

[Simikiel]

Awesome! Now consider making AI be opt-in instead of opt-out. Thanks.

[LatexCritter]

So what is somewhat missing from this reply is what will the default be for this option? Will it be *off* be default like it should be or on be default? Off is the only one that really makes sense if you truly mean what you ysay about privacy and transparency.

[edem]

How about shoving it all in a downloadable plugin which is not bundled with the browser, and to opt-in, it would have to be manually downloaded and installed? Best way to opt-in, and you can even measure how many people actually download it. (Not me, I would love to not have it in my browser at all.)

[beatnikqueen]

Also privacy wise because if it's integrated we'd risk authorizing mining of our data and/or documents without realizing upon update.

[Dick_Nation]

Here's a better switch: switch your developers to doing something more productive and scuttle these AI features. Imagine how much more you could get done in line with your actual user base's needs and desires! Wow!

It's incredible how bad people are at making management decisions, given how many of them are that blindly simple.

[vincentj]

@Jolie  Turning it off is not good enough.  

Don't waste development resources building unwanted features. 

Instead, PLEASE just work on the top-voted ideas. 

If you want to build AI features, feel free to leave Mozilla and create an extension for people who want it.

[samyotix]

Good to hear, I might not have to switch to Vivaldi after all.

Can you also get rid of the other stupid bloat, like the useless button on the right that just pops up an ad (!) for your mobile browser?

[RentAChemist]

That's great to hear! It's concerning that wasn't a priority until now, though. Like Firefox is trying to trick us into using AI. Like the other companies forcing AI on us are. 

[drjigglebones]

Not quite the worst response possible, but it's close.

A better response would be a promise that the devs would collectively talk to Anthony about preventing any more dev time being wasted on garbage bloat no one wants.

The best response would be to collectively fire that idiotic new CEO and become employee-owned.

[kingdomfantasy6]

10/10 use of a quote to really visualize what's going.

Read it to non-techie roomie who nodded and went, "Yep. Yeeeeeeeeeeeeep."

[BenjaminGeer]

I don’t want AI in my web browser, or anywhere else in my life, at all, ever. And I think that most Firefox users probably feel the same way. In adding AI, you seem to be determined to lose the tiny fraction of users that are still loyal to Firefox.

[nuh]

I'm assuming the AI window refers to agentic browsing. Will it run on local models, or will we need to choose a third-party service like with the sidebar chatbot? I appreciate that Mozilla is offering these features, but I'd prefer an option to download and use local models, even if they are larger and slower

[nativeit]

Sounds like what you want is a browser that supports extensions, not an AI browser. 

[Janeishly]

"standing still while technology moves forward doesn’t benefit the web or the people who use it"

All of your users get this. But this technology is not moving forward. Have you actually used it for anything you truly understand? It doesn't work. It's sole purpose is to capture the attention of CEOs who know nothing of their actual business – or anyone else's – while burning the planet's already stretched resources.

Mozilla users do NOT want this stuff. And you'd gain far more users fleeing from other browsers if you were the only one not to be taken in by the hype.

[AmigaPete]

Absolutely not. I want a big off switch to disable absolutely all AI. Better would be for it to be completely disabled by default and opt-in only. Best of all would be good just not put ai in firefox at all.