Try out AI controls in Firefox (Nightly)

[stef]

Hi everyone 👋,

I’m Stefan, a PM on the Firefox team. We’ve talked a lot about building AI in Firefox in a way that puts users in control. Today, I wanted to share something new we’re testing that does just that, and get feedback: AI controls.

As AI-enhanced features show up in more places across Firefox, we’ve heard that you want clearer ways to understand what’s enabled and how to manage it. This feature is a step towards that. You can read more about the approach in our Distilled blog post. 

AI controls will be available to try later today in Firefox Nightly. We’re still actively working on it, so some details may change before this ships more broadly in Firefox 148 later this month.

What’s covered in AI controls today

From the AI controls page in Settings, you'll be able to manage the following AI-enhanced features:

• Translations – generative translation of webpage content
• Alt text in PDFs – generated image descriptions for improved accessibility
• AI-enhanced tab grouping – suggested group names and related tabs
• Link previews – AI-generated key points from a page before opening it
• AI chatbot in the sidebar – quick access to a selected chatbot (Claude, ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, and more)

All features are optional, and you can choose a setup based on what works for you.

Blocking AI features

If you don’t want to use AI features at all, the Block AI enhancements toggle disables current and future AI features and suppresses prompts. You can always re-enable individual features if you want. 

Feedback we’re looking for

Your feedback from Nightly is especially valuable as we look to continually improve the AI controls over time:

• Is the settings UI clear, discoverable, and understandable without additional context?
• Do the controls behave the way you expect when you enable or block a feature? If not, what surprised you?
• Is anything missing that you expected to be configurable, or anything present that feels unnecessary?
• Have you encountered any bugs, glitches, or confusing edge cases? Please include steps to reproduce where possible.
• Does the language used in the UI clearly explain what each control does and what it affects?

Thanks for taking the time to try this out!
- Stef

[Wsky20]

Think you are out of touch with reality my man.

[Wingding]

If you want integrated ai and your data stolen that bad go use google, don’t advocate for the few decent broswers left to ruin their reputation

[lackey]

And you're the guy who called me selfish

[SarahSyna]

Will be abandoning Firefox now thanks to the addition of AI slop. The fact you're so determined to add this crap against the wishes of your community means you cannot be trusted with anything.

[Wsky20]

Yeah nah. Won't be using AI at all. In fact if it is ever installed on anything I use, or is related to anything I use I am going to uninstall it and demand that it be taken out.  I want nothing to do with AI just like I want nothing to do with scammers, cartels, ponzi schemes, fake food and everything fraudulent and artificial.  Sorry I like Authentic Intelligence.

[Rukarr]

I've been a Firefox user since its inception. By forcing AI on us (I'm not dumb enough to believe that blocking it will stop it from mining my data and habits) you've ensure one less user for Firefox. GG.

[s_hentzschel]

Really? Conspiracy theories?

To stick to the facts: you are not being forced to do anything. AI-based features have been available in Firefox for several years now, so this is nothing new at all. What is new is a new settings page that makes it easier than ever to disable AI features. There has never been anything like data mining in Firefox, and it's pretty cheeky of you to insinuate that.

[SarahSyna]

Nothing cheeky about it. AI only functions based on all the data it already stole. When people desperately want to force the thing down your throat it's pretty bloody obvious as to why.

[acburt]

THANK YOU!! I used Firefox before but this feature update means it's now my preferred browser.

[Lilya]

A sad day to see this unethical climate ruining hallucination crap infect my go-to browser and especially to see that it's opt-out instead of opt-in. It was a good 21 year run we had but the corporate interests finally got you.

[ttdkellykane]

(wrong account)

[Wingding]

AI is actually the reason I’m abandoning Firefox after using it since I was old enough to spell. Don’t care that it can be disabled, people used Firefox because there was no ai period.

[Lawnmowerman]

How about giving the user the choice first?
Do NOT enable any part of AI and allow the user to decide if THEY want this turned on?
A lot of people out there will have no idea about whats going, have zero technical ability with this stuff and do not want AI in their life.
But it seems all of you big techs are just forcing people onto it and then have that little caveat added that many A. cannot do, B. do not have time to sit there and dig through this and C. just do not know what they are looking at.
So why not disable AI entirely and have that little button, as you have stated, turn it on if they want?

This next bit of rant. I know. People just don't want to hear it.
This AI stuff, for those who give a **bleep**, is destroying our very lives. The amount of water AI consumes is astounding. And our water has now become the most valuable resource. And no, I am not a 'tree hugger' but seriously, what the hell. It is so much more destructive than bloody oil was.

[Alarm-Siren]

On the subject of the first half of your post, that's already exactly how it works. Its already opt-in.

That's what "Available", which is the default option for all AI features, is. It means that the browser will surface an AI feature at a relevant moment and ask for permission before enabling it. Until you give permission for a given AI feature, it is not operating, and indeed the relevant models haven't even been downloaded.

The Block AI Enhancements toggle just stops the browser surfacing the prompt that asks if you want to turn AI features on. It doesn't need to turn them off because they weren't on to start with.

I do agree that the Block AI Enhancements option should itself be more prominent, perhaps shown to new users as part of an on-boarding experience, so that if they already know they want no AI features they can prevent Firefox from asking - but to say that the AI is 'on' by default is just false.

On the 2nd half of your post, I agree. I'm no AI-lover, and I can't wait for this bubble to pop, but this thread isn't about "is AI good or bad"... whether we like it or not, AI exists in firefox for the time being, and has done for many months before this particular update. This thread is about the new settings page that's been added to control it, which I think is a good thing - at the very least now I don't have to hunt down whatever badly named about:config pref disables the latest AI rubbish every update (and the pop-ups asking me to enable them), I can and have just set Block AI Enchancements On and now never have to worry about it again. 

The best thing we can all do to get rid of AI entirely from Firefox is disable it all, and leave telemetry switched on. When they see 80%+ of their users disabling it, they'll conclude its not worth their time to maintain. For the record, this is what I have done: Mozilla is the only company I deliberately leave Telemetry switched on, because I want them to adapt the browser toward my preferences. Ironically we nerds and power-users shoot ourselves in the foot when we disable telemetry, because then the decision-makers don't see us in their statistics when making their decisions.

P.S. I'm amused by you bundling Mozilla, of all companies, into the "Big Tech" bucket. They're really not. Even if you think they're behaving like Big Tech (debateable), they don't have the scale: Daddy Google could crush them with a thought.

[WaterBottle]

Since AI has already been added to Firefox (I wish it hadn't been) please could you make it so that users have to opt-in to using AI features on the browser instead of opting out. 

[Alarm-Siren]

Its already opt-in.

That's what "Available", which is the default option for all AI features, is. It means that the browser will surface an AI feature at a relevant moment and ask for permission before enabling it. Until you give permission for a given AI feature, it is not operating, and indeed the relevant models haven't even been downloaded.

The Block AI Enhancements toggle just stops the browser surfacing the prompt that asks if you want to turn AI features on. It doesn't need to turn them off because they weren't on to start with.

[CHaSeD]

Sure, it's like that *for now*. But how long will it be before some greedy suit-wearing MBA decides that they can hoover up all that sweet juicy user data, privacy policy be hanged? These gibbons don't respect users, privacy, or human decency; only the hallowed bottom line is to be honored above all else.

[Alarm-Siren]

Firstly, Mozilla is a non-profit, so they don't have a motive to "hoover up all that data". They are not "Big Tech". They follow the Mozilla Manifesto which, amongst other things, reads: "Individuals’ security and privacy on the internet are fundamental and must not be treated as optional." So I doubt the future you are scared of will come to pass, as it would require a fundamental restructure of the Mozilla Foundation. The fact Firefox is even offering these options and being opt-in, is testament to that - the Big Tech browsers have no such luxuries. Firefox is also the only major browser left that still supports proper adblockers; something I'm pretty sure Google would pay them handsomely to neuter, if the Mozilla team were so inclined as to take the money.

Secondly, there's no point in fretting over a future that may or may not come to pass. If it does happen you can be rightfully indignant, but in there here-and-now, it hasn't happened so there's nothing to be annoyed about and you certainly don't need to insult the team. To be clear, I share your skepticism of Big Tech: they do not hold their users' interests at heart, because their incentives do not align with the users', but to tar Mozilla with that ssame brush is to do them a disservice.

[CHaSeD]

Delude yourself however you want, bro, but they've let the mask slip and I can see the monster lurking underneath. Once a company begins to slip away on morals, they *never* recover. Mozilla is going to fall to the allure of the diamond mine of data they're sitting on, just you wait.

Meanwhile, feel free to slurp up that disgusting AI slop as much you want, but I won't touching it with a thirty-nine-and-a-half foot pole. There are strings attached to it that have yet to be pulled.

[Alarm-Siren]

On your first paragraph, I think you're unnecessarily jaded. I understand, there's a lot of bad stuff in the world and a lot of two-faced corporations too, but that doesn't mean everyone is the same. Not every company is out to get you.

Firefox is unbelievably important to the free internet. Firefox's Gecko engine is the only independent engine that is not made by, or based on, Google's Chromium engine. This is why I want Firefox to succeed, even when they make mistakes. Without Firefox, Google effectively controls the internet, and that's not good for anyone.

As to your second paragraph: your assumption is incorrect. I do not like AI, in fact I hate it and I disabled all the AI features in Firefox the moment they dropped, long before this update I might add. I cannot wait for this bubble to pop and I will dance on its grave when it does.

But my dislike of AI doesn't mean I'm going to go around brandishing wild conspiracy theories, insulting random people and insinuating malice where there is no evidence.

Instead, I celebrate when companies and organisations actually listen and give people options, as Mozilla have done in this case. Perhaps the implementation could be improved, but its so much better than no options at all, which is what we get with Big Tech, so I will take this as a win for us.

If you don't trust Mozilla not to go back on their values, then perhaps you should consider switching to a different browser. Palemoon, Waterfox and Librewolf are all good options.

[CHaSeD]

Call me jaded if you like, but that cynicism comes from seeing years and years of supposedly good companies bend the knee to naked greed and corporate interests over the consumers they supposedly served. There's no way I'm going to believe that a company *supposedly* invested in my right to privacy will do *anything* with my interests at heart if the won't *LISTEN* to and *AGREE* with what the community *VEHEMENTLY* opposes! If you hate AI as much as you claim, then you cannot, in good conscious, accept that Mozilla's inclusion of the technology *by default* in the browser, is motivated by anything other than a desperate need to not be left out. It's pathetic!

Honestly, it feels like I walked into a grocery store, made my way to the produce section, only to discover that there's a huge pile of feces opposite the potatoes and corn display. "You don't have do anything with it" the store clerks assure, but it's still a *LITERAL PILE OF FECES* across from the food I want to purchase! I don't care if I don't have to touch it, buy it, or even look at it; the very idea of it digusts me, and I don't want it near my food!

The same logic applies to Firefox. AI is crap. The users say it's crap. Mozilla shovels it in anyway. They aren't listening to a single word we're saying that contradicts their insipid corporate direction. And if they won't listen to anyone now, how do you suppose they'll respond when they make the *next* unpopular decision?

[Alarm-Siren]

If you hate AI as much as you claim, then you cannot, in good conscious, accept that Mozilla's inclusion of the technology *by default* in the browser, is motivated by anything other than a desperate need to not be left out. It's pathetic!

I do agree, except with the part were you continue to insist the features are enabled by default when that is not true. They do not get enabled unless and until the user actively engages with them. That's the entire point of my argument.

And if they won't listen to anyone now, how do you suppose they'll respond when they make the *next* unpopular decision?

---

I expect they'll do the same thing they've always done, which is ignore power users' concerns and then we'll all grumble for a bit, go find a userChrome.css, extension or about:config hack that puts the browser back into a usable state, and carry on. I cannot count the number of times I've had to do this, but at least we can: all the other browsers are so locked down we can't even do that.

However, in this case, they didn't ignore our concerns. You may not be happy with the compromise they selected, but you cannot argue they did nothing. They did hear us and they did do something.

[CHaSeD]

Your naivety is astounding. Wanna buy a bridge?

Come on! How can you look at an increasingly corporatizedinternet ecosystem and believe for a fraction of a second that you aren't being lied to? If they're just going to ignore us, then of course they'll say whatever they have to to get the mewling peasents to be quiet so they can get back to whatever incomprehensibly boneheaded plans they have next on their to do lists. We can't afford to take entities as large as Mozilla at their word anymore, if they won't listen to the people that understand them the most. We're the canary in the coal mine, and it's our responsibility to keep them honest. And if they won't listen, we must decry their unjust actions to any who care to listen. Ergo, they've wronged us with AI slop features, and then attempted to appease us with an off switch. If you believe that off switch will remain functional or off, I have another bridge to sell you.

[c0d3h4x0r]

Repeat after me until you understand it:

Mozilla. Is. Not. A. Company.

Firefox. Is. Not. Made. By. A. Company.

[Tazer_Silvascar]

They are partly a company. Didn't you know Mozilla Corporation is a thing? It's a subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation - and they handle the development of the browser, amongst other things. Why does an NFP need a business arm? This corporate side is why we're having to suffer things like AI integration in the first place. Because some hotshot CEO came in and said "You know what this browser needs? AI". And as per usual the Pro-AI echo chamber reared its ugly head and praised the CEO for its madness - and because the Anti-AI people aren't totally united in what their interests are, enough to shout back when the Pro-AI people are busy screwing things up, the CEO took that as a sign to go ahead. Pro-AI CEOs are a blight on everything, because they decide that EVERYTHING needs AI. While the Foundation DOES technically control everything the Corporation does, this CEO seems to heavily agree with a very noisy small bubble within the Foundation.

[lackey]

The part of Mozilla that makes Firefox is for-profit, and they regularly ignore the Manifesto when it is inconvenient to them. 

[lackey]

"Available" is about as bad as "enabled," spamming you with unnecessary AI prompts when you group tabs for example. It's an invasive, bloated and ugly user experience.

[GoodByeFirefox1]

Just moving to LibreWolf after 10 years of Firefox. Absolutely appalling that AI bloat and zero privacy is now coming to my favourite browser. I'm leaving this here so I don't just scream into the void.

[AmsRed]

I'm still getting AI shoved down my throat when using google search on Firefox, I've blocked it every which way possible but the AI Overview still heads most of my searches. 

[Alarm-Siren]

That is not controlled by the Firefox, so these controls would not have any effect on that.

However, if you'd like to remove it you can setup a custom Google search engine using "https://www.google.com/search?q=%s&udm=14" as the URL. The udm=14 part on the end means the search will always go straight to the 'Web' tab, which doesn't have an AI overview.

[danish4636357]

That’s a fair point. Having AI features turned off by default and letting users opt-in would give people more control over their experience. A simple one-time popup to enable it sounds like a balanced approach.

[danish4636357]

hi

[Tazer_Silvascar]

I don't think they're even looking at these anymore, we probably have to look to criticising their more up to date posts.

[TechHorse]

Hello. I turned on Block AI enhancements but a few days later noticed that Perplexity was still being offered as a search engine in the dropdown list next to the address bar.

Is this a bug, or is the Perplexity search option just not covered by the global AI block?

P.S. I did not manually install it myself, if that makes a difference as to whether an AI element is turned off by the global AI toggle.

[usamna56781]

I think both sides here have valid concerns. On one hand, giving users control over AI features is definitely a step forward, especially with a global “Block AI enhancements” option. That’s something many other browsers don’t even offer.

At the same time, I understand why some users are uncomfortable. Even if features are technically opt-in, repeated prompts or “Available” states can still feel intrusive, especially for people who want a completely AI-free experience.

Maybe a better approach would be a clear first-run choice: “Enable AI features” vs “Keep Firefox AI-free,” with no prompts shown afterward unless the user manually enables it. That would reduce friction and build more trust with users who are sensitive about privacy or UI clutter.

Also, when testing browser performance or responsiveness after new features, I sometimes use lightweight browser activities or small tools just to observe behavior (even simple sites like szgames.io can give a quick idea of responsiveness).

Overall, the controls page is a good direction, but making the experience more transparent and less interruptive would probably address most of the concerns being raised here.

[Tazer_Silvascar]

Absolutely. Firefox for the longest time was promoted almost entirely on it's light-weightedness (especially against competitors like Chrome), and it feels very much like the current Mozilla Corp CEO (and presumably anyone else in either the foundation or the business who agrees with him unquestionably) have lost sight of that. I use a very outdated laptop (10yrs+, can't afford in this day and age to replace it, because the AI boom has caused all technology costs to skyrocket), and keeping Firefox light on the processes really helps with that.

I obviously don't just blame Mozilla for their short-sighted actions. Most of the industry seems to have taken the leap, and it seems like only major enthusiasts and grifters are the ones actually pushing the positive noise about AI (and obviously with those comes bots to inflate the noise further), whereas most of the public are concerned over the ethical and environmental costs, but don't really have the voice to speak up. At least in the circles I'm in, there's really very few people who look to AI (especially the generative sort) with any degree of positivity. So it really shouldn't be all that surprising that there's push-back. Look at the CEOs of Microsoft and NVidia getting all upset when there's very few people actually using their services, or when people come forward with extremely valid criticisms. They don't care, they just want to keep advancing the tech at any cost, and can't stand that the public don't see their (extremely corrupt and narrow-minded) vision. And then you get people like Bezos saying the quiet part out loud - they don't even want people to own their own computers. They want everyone in the Cloud. No thanks!

[oldlady]

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now, can you get Google (and gmail) to get on the same page?

[b9]

Just want to add my objection to AI here.

I strongly prefer no AI in my browser at all, ever, period!

[gullsher5434]

From my experience, going step by step and not overcomplicating things usually works better in the long run. Also, taking small breaks helps keep things fresh and more enjoyable.