Mozilla’s next chapter: Building the world’s most trusted software company

[2mustange]

In case anyone missed it, the new CEO posted this: https://blog.mozilla.org/en/mozilla/leadership/mozillas-next-chapter-anthony-enzor-demeo-new-ceo/

My initial thoughts, this reliance on AI does not spark confidence in the future of Firefox. 

[TiltedW]

"Building the worlds most trusted software company" is a goal that is fundamentally incompatible with forcing AI into the browser.

The management of a company blindly jumping on an overrated, hype trend, that is based on an economical bubble, does anything BUT inspire trust in said company.
Someone that incompetent should not be trusted as a CEO, and a company that allows them to have any decision making power, can by extension also not be trusted.

[Dick_Nation]

Building the world's most trusted software company, by immediately making themselves extremely untrustworthy. Vile. The only people whose work needs to be replaced in our society are CEOs.

[fool]

Four of the five top trending items on this website are from people asking to stop adding AI misfeatures. How can a software company become trusted by ignoring overwhelming feedback from its users?

[RentAChemist]

Why not replace the CEO with an AI and leave AI out of the product? 

[CHaSeD]

Mozilla would be able to make way more money if they didn't have to pay the C-Suite. Just saying.

[InclinedPlane]

I have been using Firefox off and on since it was called "Phoenix". I've followed its evolution over multiple decades including some significant ups and downs. Finally in recent years Firefox has become a fully modern, efficient, standards compliant, and competitive browser. Unfortunately, the new CEO has decided this is the perfect time to infect the project with the blight of AI. There is no compelling user experience that is fulfilled by AI, there is no need that is being met, it's just yet another example of CEO FOMO being expressed by all of the "thought leaders" (what irony) in the tech industry.

I would love to support Mozilla and Firefox even more than I have so far, but I refuse to do so until their leadership make strong commitments to end user experience and opting out of the AI fad. This is such a ridiculous own goal at a time when Firefox could become the poster child for what a good browser should be.

Unfortunately, it's looking increasingly likely that I'll have to switch browsers yet again. Perhaps this time it'll take another decade before Firefox is again in a state worth using or perhaps it'll never recover from this mess, we'll just have to wait and see.

[beemo]

I've been using firefox for almost 20 years now. If this is the direction it is going I will immediately uninstall it and switch to waterfox or librewolf. You clearly don't understand your own user base. 

[f00l]

The incredible thing is that he managed to ignore all the feedback in EVERY Ai-related discussion that said that WE DO NOT WANT MORE AI CRAP. I guess it's time to move away from Firefox, since they decided to copy Microsoft in their way to piss off users.

[astbaum]

I don't need more AI features in my life. I can do all the tasks myself. 

Going to look for alternative browsers.

[ButtercupBoopy]

I need firefox to understand the only reason im using it is because its not AI bloatware garbage trying to shovel together more garbage pretending to be anything more than regurgitated info it cobbled together into something I want to hear but is incredibly wrong. If it turns into google I have no reason to stick around. 

[coldknees]

Surely they have the numbers on how many users have turned off all the AI garbage that is currently in the browser, why would they add more?
Just a total fundamental misunderstanding of who the userbase is - we're using firefox because everything else is crammed full of bloat and AI and other crap, if firefox ends up being no different then why would we continue using it?

[forward]

What a disappointment. i was wrong to expect better from Firefox, hoping that they would listen to the millions of people vehemently stating they do NOT want more AI trash forced down their throats. and least give us the option of having a browser without AI and some semblance of security and privacy. alas, just another corporation who values lunging towards the newest market trend and money instead of appealing to their own consumers. you know, the very foundation that allowed you to even become a major browser option? feel shame and regret, Firefox. switching browsers immediately. 

[Meem55]

New CEO is clearly not in touch with his user base 😠

Also: missing a huge opportunity here. I'm 99% sure that, if you market your product as "AI Free", you will gain a lot of new users and keep your current users.
People are fed up with all the AI crap nowadays. Capitalising on that instead of stepping into the AI bubble is a golden opportunity.

[WCA11]

Exactly! We do NOT need AI in Firefox. It is a pointless feature that is going to explode in everyone's faces sooner rather than later.

[Casie]

I personally do not trust a browser that shoehorns AI in everywhere it can. 

[Devilpants]

Not only did they force it in, they also hid it in about:config, a menu the browser actively discourages users from digging around in and that most people wouldn't even know about if not for guides on how to disable the AI slop already in Firefox.

[p32t]

AI Should be something you always have to turn on. Opt-in not opt-out! The idea that AI is so integral to a browser that it is a feature you must turn off is just absurd. I use firefox because of its privacy features which would be decimated with forced AI integration. Firefox alone has all of the customizaion features I want, and until recently has been a blessed relief from the accursed creep of AI into every online interaction. 

I genuinely will stop using Firefox and switch to a different browser if Firefox forces opt-out only integration of AI into my life, this is that big of a deal to me. 

[IssueSpam]

Seconding this, if Firefox ever tries to force me to use generative AI features I will immediately switch browsers.

[jlwork]

NO FUKING AI!

[Bryce]

Yeah if this is the direction things are moving in, I will be switching browsers and declining to renew my Mozilla VPN subscription as well.

[soupgoescronch]

The only reason I switched to Firefox is because it wasn't bloated with unnecessary and harmful AI "features." If Firefox goes through with becoming like every other browser, I'm switching again.

[Ne0]

Yeah, this is a significant downgrade in terms of trust for me. I use Firefox as a browser because Mozilla actually, demonstrably, does more to keep my data safe than chromium. This is the opposite of cyber security. There is no privacy with AI, especially badly implemented AI, which this is absolutely going to be. 

[artemouse]

Its lack of AI has been the reason I've stuck with Firefox for so long. It's all well and good to say your AI is optional, but so far the AI settings have been pretty hidden and I really dislike the direction this is going. I'll have to find something else if this continues.

[Hinap]

An AI future for Firefox is no good future for Firefox in the slightest. The general human population is not interested in this bloatware, especially when its addition tanks what we use internet browsers for.

[anonymoususer99]

i switched my entire OS to get away from AI. switching a browser is nothing. librewolf or waterfox it is. echoing another comment from elsewhere on the web, this is our modern radium. years from now, we'll look back on this and go, "they put AI in WHAT?!"

[eevee]

i really don't understand how building in the technology that generates plausible nonsense is supposed to engender trust in mozilla.  the web is already increasingly lying to me, and now my browser can save me time by doing it directly, and somehow this creates trust?

this post is written as though "trust" is a thing you just sort of passively generate.  absurd.

[sunf1ower]

The new CEO writes, "It is a privilege to lead an organization with a long history of standing up for people and building technology that puts them first" but then goes on about how great it'll be for their bottom line to add AI to the Firefox product. Waxing poetic about how much people trust the brand, as if there's this big pool of people ready to be exploited for their faith in what Firefox used to stand for. 

Like many of the other replies have already said, the main user base for Firefox are people who value privacy, customizability, control over their digital data, and formerly, the option to stay away from browsers blighted by AI slop. To look at that core demographic of users and only see the quick buck they'll make before the AI bubble bursts is disgusting. If the first move you make as the new CEO is to betray that trust, I will no longer be using Firefox.

I was already incredibly suspicious of the latest AI update that forced us to go into the config menu to turn off the AI snooping features, something that should have been a) opt-in (not out!!) b) clearly communicated/announced to users and c) easy to turn off through the regular settings menu.

What a truly sad and disappointing direction Firefox is going in. I enjoyed my time with it and I'm glad it was genuinely great for a few years but I will be moving to another browser like Librewolf or Waterfox. 

[BattasticBrat]

As someone who has been very happy with their switch from Chrome to Firefox, the implementation of ai would render this choice COMPLETELY WORTHLESS. I like firefox because its the opposite of everything other browsers are doing. If firefox goes down this path, I will have no problem switching to a new ai-less browser.

The ai bubble is getting closer and closer to bursting by the day- putting money towards ai now is just digging your own grave at this point. Ai isnt profitable and the vast majority of people don't like it.

[womanaction]

like seriously they’re acting like people want this but everywhere I look I just see people complaining about it. and even if there are some people somewhere who do want this - it should be strictly opt in.

i don’t want to change browsers but I will if they keep on this trend…

[growingCataclys]

i use firefox to get away from the rest of the tech world's reliance on ai, not to join it. if things keep going this way, ill have to find another browser 😕

[dkbu]

Agreed with OP. why is AI necessary in a browser? What purpose does it serve?

[DonutRush]

Satisfying the whims of an overpaid C-suite doofus who thinks unreliable word calculators are the future because they can outsmart him.

[greyywatch]

Agreed. AI is completely incompatible with what I perceived to be the goals of Firefox and is in opposition to the reasons I switched to Firefox in the first place. This makes me feel like my information and privacy is no longer secure with Firefox, these AI services are not useful or interesting, and currently the ONLY reason I haven't switched to Waterfox is that at least Firefox currently lets me turn these things /off/. I don't think that's going to be a good enough reason if this all continues. Smarten up, Anthony.

[Beewytched]

No. Absolutely not. I've been with Firefox for a long while and it was such a blast having a browser that wasn't a Google Chrome clone with extras and slight differences. But if this is where Firefox is headed—going the AI route despite all the backlash from others, giving us more slop that would be instantly turned off the moment somebody knows how to—then I will be looking for alternatives.

[Simplysly]

The main reason I use Firefox is the lack of AI

[Juliver]

Welp, time to say bye to firefox. It's a shame, I've been using the browser BECAUSE of its lack of forced AI slop. Corporate greed once again ruins user experience and alienates the very consumers they claim to support. 

[biffjerky]

I trusted FireFox because it promised to not turn into another search engine with no privacy and not bogged down by AI. If they go ahead with this AI bull**bleep**, I’m deleting everything.

[sbuggbot]

Nobody asked for AI features. People use Firefox specifically because it's one of the few browsers that still offers its users privacy and doesn't have AI shoved into it. 

[altaratlas]

All the AI functions in the world can not replace the need for my browser to be trustworthy and secure, which is why I chose Firefox in the first place. I need to be able to trust the information I see and the actions I take on my browser and feel confident that they are done privately. Large language models are inherently fragile when used at scale, they cannot be completely trusted and are insecure. Even if the whole model is run locally on my machine, reliability is still an issue. 

'Basic' browsers will not die because AI cannot engender complete trust, so Firefox does not (and should not) need to follow the AI hype train. If Mozilla develops AI crud and makes them available only as an opt-in utility, I will not opt-in. If they are not opt-in, I'll leave.