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.

[Anonymous]

I rely heavily on AI and LLMs in my daily life! I have GPT4All installed on Fedora Linux, which operates locally without any data leaving my PC. However, when I need internet access, having it integrated with Firefox is incredibly convenient.

[necky]

Firefox developers, the convenience of having AI in the sidebar or integrated into the browser is not worth the security issues. Plus, the way I and many others look at it, all the sidebar really is, is a browser tab that can't be closed, only minimized. Using AI chat-bots in a regular browser tab, by visiting the website achieves the same thing as a chat-bot in the sidebar.

And speaking of the iOS version of Firefox, there are many other things I would want improved or changed in the iOS version rather than AI. The iOS version has always felt "behind" the Android version in features and just the overall control and toggles that are provided to the user.

The iOS version of the Brave browser seems Great ! Most of the toggles and features you find on the Android version are available on iOS (stuff like brave://flags aren't available of-course).

Tracker blocking, JavaScript blocking (or allowing), Ad-blocking, changing the UI and toolbar of the browser, per-site shields (privacy) settings, and a lot of things that Brave for iOS does but Firefox for iOS doesn't. I really wish you (the developers) would first make the iOS version of Firefox more consistent with the Android version first.

And I also share the sentiment of not following trends (now the AI trend), and improving the render engine performance.

[Nombrenada]

Search online by avoiding the Firefox search engine.  It's .  It now produces endless and useless variations of the initial request presented as links that lead endlessly to more links, ad nauseum. Get useful answers to research queries far faster by going to DuckDuckGo and get the information needed for productive output. 

Maybe the AI is needed by those linguistically disabled by texting? Adding AI in the fashion chosen by Mozilla is not progress. Is it crutches for those so grammatically challenged they are no longer capable of communicating in complete sentences?  The AI "box" often conjures gibberish as useless as these "chat-bots" I have learned to avoid. How does one turn the AI off? 

[samyotix]

You are still forcing this AI nonsense down your throats, and wasting huge amounts of energy for irrelevant, error-prone summaries. 

I will switch to Vivaldi or some other AI free eco system unless you add an easy to find "disable AI crap" button in your settings.

[PaulNoe]

I love how Mozilla is prioritizing user choice and control with AI features! The opt in nature and flexibility to choose the AI model really stand out. I'm particularly excited about the 'AI Window' it sounds like a useful productivity tool. Will it work across all webpages or be tailored to specific tasks? It’s great to see Mozilla taking the lead in shaping AI responsibly. Looking forward to seeing more developments and how this will benefit users!

[Anonymous]

AI is a drain on our power supply they say it will be 60% more since AI has been sneaking into our computers and lives my computer crashes 24/7 I have lost comtrol of my actions and in the last two weeks I've had ober 500 sms calls with codes to get into the silliest of programs I just don't get it. 25 years no major viruses that wern't an easy clean up but now systems are crashing because od AI and over protective protection. If some fool wants to spend their life trying to crack passwords let them I don't care they are the ones wasting their time. Now however I foind myself wasting mytime for nothing due to over zealous companies, and how great is AI really I can ask the same question to two different AI's and i can get two different answers. as a dictionary of info they have a purpose but it stops there as they have no understanding of the value of words and if you think they can comprehend what they are saying your a fool as words don't have a finite value like numbers do.

[Anonymous]

Also this is the first time I'v had to use chrome or edge since netscape the birth place of firefox I've been loyal to you now it's your turn to be loyal to me and stop over loading the power in my computer with AI as their not designed to carry the load of AI - What? You didn't think about that! My 5 of six drives in my computer run fine but drive c is crashing 24/7. I have found only one AI worth asking questions and that is gemni.

[Anonymous]

Copilot is the dumbest of them.

[dhflipizzans]

No. No and no.

Speaking as one of the claimants in the Anthropic settlement (with 30 titles scraped) and as a resident of Greater Tucson where Amazon tried to hide behind shell corps and NDAs that it wants to build a data center IN A FREAKING DESERT IN A FREAKING MILLENNIAL DROUGHT, I can only say to you: Do. Not. Want. Useless en**bleep**tified not to mention bloody insulting to actual writers and artists not-ready-for-prime-time tech. Get off the train before it finishes hurtling off the cliff.

[mcmax3000]

I came very close to getting rid of Firefox after using it for decades the last time you enabled a bunch of this AI trash by default. If this goes through, I'm done. Keep this garbage away from my browser.

I'd rather it not be done at all but if you absolutely feel you must, make it an extension. Let me people want it specifically install it. Don't force it on those of us that want nothing to do with that slop.

[JustStopAISucks]

Agreed.  Been with Fx since V1 but if this continues, I'm out.  

[marbs]

please stop putting AI into the browser and just work on improving performance. browsers in general are already bloated--don't add AI to the mix. the other day i got the screen asking for donations and was considering it until you shoved a bunch of AI **bleep** at me and immediately proved that my money would not go to making the browser better.

AT MINIMUM you should have it be opt-in, but ideally, just focus on making the browser better!

[JustStopAISucks]

Please stop with the AI nonsense.  We don't like it, we don't need it, we don't want it.  Focus on privacy and security.  THAT is what we want.

[JustStopAISucks]

Why are there no downvote options?  What are you afraid of?  In any case, this is my vote: 👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎

[RonL]

I'm a retired computer engineer -- I refuse to use any "A.I." features. Period.

[tb4]

I think you already get the picture from the hundreds of comments all clearly expressing that Mozilla users don’t want AI integrated into the browser at all, in any capacity, but just in case you need to hear it again: I do not want AI integrated into the browser AT ALL, in any capacity. If this is something people want, they can download an extension. I don’t want this under the hood, and the fact that it’s been implemented—and, worse, implemented WITHOUT being opt-in—makes me distrust the browser and think I need to start looking for an alternative for the first time since 2004.

Like everyone else has said: delete all of this AI garbage and focus on making a good browser. That’s the only thing that can possibly make you stand out in this market, whereas chasing the shiny dream of how AI is going to make you $$$ is absurd and is actively driving your existing userbase away.

When you implement this crap by default and force us to hunt for ways to weed it out, that’s *not* transparent, *not* opt-in, and completely against what the community wants.

Thanks.

[JayF]

Take this stuff outta the browser. I shouldn't need to disable every bad idea Firefox has -- I've had to manually disable pocket when that was being pushed, now I'm having to manually disable this AI stuff. The technology is cool; let me integrate it on my own terms and my own timeline. I am against, in the strongest terms, any built-in AI functionality to Firefox -- even if it's opt-in only (providing an opt-out is not sufficient; it needs to be default-off).

This is the primary reason I do not contribute to Mozilla monetarily: I do not want my money funding things like pocket or AI/ML, I want my money funding a standards compliant browser that respects my privacy. Find those values again, please.

[isthisusrnmtkn]

agreed, very well said!

[Onko]

Just make a separate browser for all this garbage rather than polluting a good product.

[MightyK]

So now news is saying your CEO's outright defying his userbase, doubling down on AI **bleep** and pushing it through and you're just gonna smile and happily capitulate. Of **bleep**ing course. Absolutely despicable, of course you techbro **bleep**s are just gonna bootlick because you see tech buzzwords and brainlessly march along.

We have all said that WE DON'T WANT AI CRAP FORCED INTO FIREFOX. We have NOT been coy about AI, we have NOT been talking in code that means otherwise, we have been saying, again,

WE DON'T WANT AI CRAP FORCED DOWN OUR THROATS

WE DON'T WANT AI CRAP FORCED DOWN OUR THROATS

WE DON'T WANT AI CRAP FORCED DOWN OUR THROATS

WE DON'T WANT AI CRAP FORCED DOWN OUR THROATS

WE DON'T WANT AI CRAP FORCED DOWN OUR THROATS

WE DON'T WANT AI CRAP FORCED DOWN OUR THROATS

WE DON'T WANT AI CRAP FORCED DOWN OUR THROATS

WE DON'T WANT AI CRAP FORCED DOWN OUR THROATS

YOU are the ones ignoring us on purpose. This is YOUR fault for explicitly going against your userbase's wishes. Don't you DARE come crying to us when your browser starts to fail once your userbase abandons it. If you're willing to **bleep** us over on purpose for your precious AI, we won't be surprised when you start blocking adblockers too for some stupid reason.

**bleep** you.

[isthisusrnmtkn]

you said this very well, i agree

[MxHarperion]

I'm officially looking into alternatives to firefox that aren't going full AI support. That "technology" hallucinates, causes psychosis that's led to deaths, ruins the environment, drives up electric bills near every single data center, and it's making people less able to think critically and engage in meaningful ways with anything. Congrats on falling into the latest shiny new thing, though, I hope you're all proud of yourselves for participating in something that is making the world a measurably worse place. This is pathetic, disgusting behavior that you should feel ashamed over, if you're even capable of that emotion.

[Unaccounted4]

It's amazing how you continue to disregard dozens of well documented issues and glaring omissions in Firefox's support of technology, but then pretend to justify this desperate... it's not even a cash grab, it's just hype-chasing. Awfully belated at that!

When Google finally stops caring about the anti-trust fines and stops paying Mozilla, I will not mourn its demise. The cavalcade of near back to back missteps and harmful decisions have been quite the show.

[anyprophet]

This is a joke right? AI is bad and makes everything worse. Please just be a regular web browser. 

[johua]

it's so frustrating that you don't seem to understand that we don't want this at all, I think I saw maybe one post in support of it while looking through multiple, multiple threads including one that had a ton of responses.

at this point you're basically falling for NFTs but you're not like, falling for it ahead of the curve, you're falling for it at the part of the curve that plummets into the ground.

opt-in is better than you turning it on and leaving it to us to dig around in about:config? I guess?

I would prefer it if you stopped wasting time and resources on a feature that your community has told you so thoroughly that we don't want.

[idc]

Dear Mozilla

Today Anthony Enzor-DeMeo made an announcement on the official Mozilla blog about stepping into the role as the CEO of Mozilla. He mentions AI a handful of times in his fairly concise announcement, as part of his vision for Mozilla going forward. In other words, this is the course that the captain of the ship is setting. With nowhere else to really respond to this, I turn to the most relevant place that I can think of (however futile this might be, as I’ll soon elaborate on).

It’s disheartening to see a thread like this go up to collect feedback from the community, but then get largely dismissed when the response isn’t aligned with Mozilla’s existing goals. The first few responses by Jolie, indicated that there is an easy ”Turn off AI”-setting in the works. This is the only additional information we have received thus far, and yet we’ve only seen the addition of more opt-out AI settings hidden in the about:config page since then. So while I believe Jolie that this setting is underway your actions have only gone against this information since this thread went up and that’s a bad look. Adding insult to injury is the response from Jolie to a singular positive comment among hundreds of critical voices. While it’s good that Mozilla acknowledges ’both sides of the argument’, it reads to many as ”this is the feedback we actually care about: validation”. It would be unfair to Jolie and Mozilla to judge the entire organisation based of the interactions of one employee alone, but today’s announcement by the new CEO has given more credit to this idea. This is not to speak critically of Anthony as an individual but it sends a message about where the organisation is headed. It doesn’t matter what the community thinks, Mozilla is already set on putting AI front and center in Firefox. What was the point of this thread again? What’s the point of me posting this here?
  
Sidenote:
It is incorrect to say 

Completely opt-in: You decide if and when to use it.

Opt-in would be to have a setting that is disabled by default and can be enabled by the user if they so desire. Right now all the AI-related features are enabled and displayed by default, just not fully pre-configured, making them opt-out. 

You asked for feedback. You received it (actually still is) and it turned out to be largely critical of what you’re doing, or at the very least how you’re doing it. Instead of addressing the feedback that you asked for, you’ve gone on ahead and given the community reasons to believe that you don’t really care what they think. This is more frustrating to me than the fact that AI is getting built into Firefox as opt-out features in the first place. 

AI is proving time and time again to be an overhyped tool that’s unreliable as well as ethically and morally questionable, and it says something about Mozilla when you push to chase this trend (despite your claims to the contrary). 

Had there been a browser I’ve been meaning to check out, this would’ve been the push for me to switch away from Firefox. Sadly, there just aren’t any alternatives that interest me at this point in time. Similarly, if I had been a Chrome or Edge user I would be less encouraged to switch to Firefox now. Why would I? I’ve been given the impression that it’s set in stone to become more of the same ilk but necessarily lagging limply a few steps behind.

[max6]

I just want to add my voice to the many, many people expressing that AI garbage is not worth the time to develop, integrate, or even to disable.

I would prefer to stay on Firefox, but on the present course I am evaluating other options and I certainly do not feel good about enabling any sponsored content that would benefit Firefox. Make it easy to, in one click, completely disable AI integration, at a minimum.

[TiltedW]

---

I would prefer to stay on Firefox, but on the present course I am evaluating other options

 It's really simple. Firefox just needs to understand it.

If mozilla decidedes to pursue AI for their browser, the users will decide to pursue a different option as their browser.

[kx]

I have used Firefox for nearly literally its entire existence.  Through every iteration and peak and valley of all the browser wars, I have stuck with it.  It is one of the few pieces of software out there that to me still encapsulates the spirit of what the internet was supposed to feel like.

If Firefox "evolves into a modern AI browser" . . . . for the first time in my life, I will stop using it.  And I will be heartbroken.

[redempts]

I recently pushed Firefox to some friends and then learn about this... I'm so ashamed. Nobody wants this AI garbage. 

[OldVamp]

No one wants AI built in to their Browser. 👎

[Odrez]

Not only do I not want my web browser to be an AI companion, I am appalled that this is how Mozilla is planning to spend its money. If this is the direction you're going, all my goodwill surrounding the firefox ecosystem will be fading away as I'm going to use whatever browser I can to evade this massively destructive and aimless tech charade.

[isthisusrnmtkn]

i agree!

[ekunnn]

this sucks **bleep**. noone wants this. the fact that the top-level people at firefox want this garbage AI **bleep** has made me start looking for a new browser. 

[Koril]

Hey can we NOT turn Firefox into a bloated AI browser? No one wants this.

[neondream]

Implementing AI is a terrible choice. I moved here to Firefox to get away from AI. I'm already looking for my next browser since you will be implementing AI into your browser. It's a shame you're joining in on AI when people use your service because it is different from the other browsers that have forced AI onto us. 

[Overland]

Why I use Firefox:

Because it's not engaged in the predatory practices and flights of fancy that define an increasingly alienating tech landscape. Because it feels like something I can understand and control. Because it understands that it has its job, and isn't trying to be a jack of all trades.

My pain points using Firefox:

• It still could use more optimization, as I need to restart it semi-regularly. It uses more and more resources over time, especially with a ton of tabs. 
• It feels sometimes less snappy than Chromium browsers - especially with Google - run sites.
• The tools used to sort tools could be more comprehensive. It should be easier to isolate tabs making sound, find duplicate tabs, or generally sort and cull tabs. This is actually like the one place I can imagine an on-device AI being useful - something to sort through my 700 tabs and propose 1-300 that could be culled because they're duplicates, new tabs, out of date, whatever. 

I tried Comet. I tried some of the other dumb AI Browsers. Guess what I'm using right now? Firefox.

You can only re-define yourself a couple times. You are really sure that after 20 years of goodwill, you want to make your brand... a fad that your customer-base is incredulous of?

I can't think of many ways to make a worse case that you're gonna right the ship. It's like if the leadership at Wikipedia said that they were gonna make the site better with sponsored content. Or if a vegan restaurant pivoted to being a slaughterhouse. It's a complete misunderstanding of the brand you've built. Of the values that the brand currently represents. Of the brand value and values that you will wipe out with AI features.

If someone asks me, right now, why should I use Firefox over Chrome, there are specific things I can point to. As other browsers get more and more burdened with AI, I thought I could point people to Firefox as a respite. I'm just mystified. This seems like such a backwards decision.

Like - Speed Queen isn't the best selling washing machine. That said, everyone that buys a Speed Queen buys it because it's not like the other machines on the market. If Speed Queen started to make the same crap that is flooding much of the rest of the market, they are both unlikely to gain all the Samsung consumers they're missing out on now, and they also just lose all their current customers. You're a semi-niche product. Get over it. Acknowledge the niche and thrive in it.

[waylander90]

plenty of people have been respectful about it so im not going to be. **bleep** you and **bleep** ai, this is **bleep**ing stupid.

[JDavitt]

I do not want to use AI. It is inaccurate, wasteful, and steals. I am very disappointed to see you going this way. If you'd stood your ground and provided and AI-free browser I think you would have reaped the benefits. 

As soon as I find a browser like that, I am uninstalling Firefox. I have supported you from the start but this is not what I want.

[Debellatis]

Hi! If I wanted AI bull**bleep** on my browser I would use Chrome or Edge. Unless Firefox wants less and less users, maybe don't follow stupid trends? Specially of something novody **bleep**ing wants. Thanks!