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.

[sadduckie]

Genuinely everyone involved with attempt to add AI features to firefox when users do not want it and have been very vocal since the last time you tried adding AI to it, should be entirely fired because obviously they are trying to make you bankrupt. If you're popular for being an alternative to a user exploitative competitor, what sense does it make to start acting exactly like that competitor. Users will leave. I will leave. It's that simple. 

[IcarusAvery]

Nobody wants this. Nobody needs this. Turn it off.

[Liz]

eugh. you are kidding me. more ai we don't want. if you want to turn this off you have to do a bunch of annoying things in your about:config too. the only reason i am still using firefox at this point is because it is the only non-chromium browser. 

[MiroCollas]

I've been a user since the days of Netscape, which is a LONG time now. The Direction Mozilla is taking, embracing AI, is leading me to consider alternatives.

So, what most everyone else has said: just don't. Back away from AI. 

[Atrus2000]

As everyone else has already said, this is a terrible moment to be investing in AI features (even if they're just machine learning and not LLM/genAI) because of the atrocious optics. But if you really must keep pursuing this avenue (please don't), then all AI features have to be optional, opt-in by default, and able to be completely turned off with a single button. We use Firefox because you're supposed to be better than the alternative, but if you keep adding bloatware instead of features that users have been asking for years there's really no incentive to stick around. 

[MightyK]

I don't know how much clearer everyone, literally EVERYONE could have made it:

We do NOT want AI shoved down our throats. I repeat, we do NOT want AI crap shoved down our throats. Do you know what NOT means?

When we say we don't want AI crap forced down our throats, that's NOT code for "give it to us slowly subtly", that is NOT us being coy about it. It means WE DON'T WANT AI CRAP FORCED DOWN OUR THROATS.

By this point if you keep going, you are ignoring your users on purpose. 

[notcomingback]

Making this one post for everyone else disgusted by Mozilla's betrayal: Check out Vivaldi's browser. Super easy to import, rich features, and they're not contributing to the climate crisis to try to squeeze a couple extra dollars out of us.

Now to uninstall firefox for the foreseeable future, because their tone deaf response to these replies makes it pretty obvious they don't care what their user-base thinks.

[TarinCoyote]

I would definitely appreciate an easier way to disable AI “features“ in the Firefox browser. I genuinely like Firefox, and I refuse to use anything based on Chromium. I am extremely opposed to generative AI in all of its forms and would rather it not be shoehorned into everything that I use. I don’t need a chatbot integrated into my browser, I don’t want an AI assistant performing tasks in the background, I just want a browser…..to browse the Web with. adding a simple toggle in settings to disable all AI would be amazing of you. Making all AI features opt in instead of opt out would be even better. Generative AI is unethical to its very core and I don’t want to touch it

[FirefoxUser5]

I'm seriously considering ditching Firefox after being a loyal user for years. I used to recommend Firefox to my friends, switched all my devices over to Firefox, sung it's praises. The entire reason people like Firefox is that it's privacy-focused. You can't include data-scraping AI and be privacy focused. You're ditching your core selling point to chase after a tech bubble that's already showing signs of collapse. You keep talking about this being opt-in, and yet it's only possible to disable by hunting through about:config. What's more, even after I go through and disable all the AI options, you quietly add more. Adding AI anything to a privacy browser was a terrible idea to begin with, but including them without an easy way to turn it off is even worse. "We will soon provide options" is not good enough.

[admiralsenn]

This is what you guys are using our donation money for? 

I generally try to understand what people are envisioning with new features. I cannot, simply CANNOT, fathom a situation where I would want to ask an LLM for help while I browse a web page.

You see, I am a human being, so when I consume content on the web, I simply... read or watch or observe the content. I don't need a bunch of other layers summarizing it, I can skim and summarize myself and choose which parts I want to ignore. 

Who asked for this? Who is this for? What is the Foundation doing that this is even a priority? 

[Devilpants]

You talk big about user choice, but this stuff was forced in and the only way to opt out is to dig around in about:config, a menu the vast majority of firefox users have no idea even exists. It's shady and sleazy behaviour and it harms trust in mozilla's leadership.

[gargarygary]

posted from servo 

[gargarygary]

This one is posted from Falkon. 

Time to build Ladybird from source.