Mozilla Defends Its Choice on AI in Firefox

When Mozilla announced the integration of an AI switch in its Firefox browser, it marked a notable departure from tech giants that are frantically adding AI features to every online experience. Anthony Enzor-DeMeo, who took over as CEO of Mozilla in December, quickly realized that the Firefox community demanded the ability to completely disable AI features in the browser. “Our community has been quite vocal, especially during the CEO announcement, that not everyone wanted AI,” he said in an interview. “At the core, we want to listen to our users, and they have spoken. It was honestly on the roadmap, but I accelerated the process, given the feedback from the community.”

However, despite this feature, the AI switch, which is now available on both mobile and desktop, has been activated by only 1% of Firefox users to completely disable AI. Additionally, it is partially used by only 3% to disable certain AI features in the browser. Enzor-DeMeo emphasizes that tools, including AI translations, have value that people want to retain. The important differentiator in Firefox is that there is a choice, he says, referring to Microsoft, which by default uses Copilot when searching on a Windows desktop, and Google, which installs large AI models on users' computers without informing them.

“I think there’s a general sentiment among users that is: ‘Hey, I didn’t ask for this, and I didn’t choose it.’ The great thing about Firefox is that we offer a choice,” he says.

Firefox Smart Window: Bring Your Own AI

The Smart Window, which is currently in beta, allows you to choose which AI model to use on Firefox, as well as the ability to bring your own AI models to use in the browser. “If you want to use ChatGPT, great. If you want to use Gemini, awesome. Our sidebar lets you use all of them,” Enzor-DeMeo said. “They all excel in different areas; why should I be constrained to just one of them?”

The Firefox team hopes that other browsers will adopt this more agnostic approach to AI and will also use privately hosted open-source AI models. Mozilla also emphasizes the privacy of your discussions in Smart Window. It claims not to use your information to train models and automatically filters sensitive and private data. You can then choose which data the AI model should remember about you and delete anything you don’t want it to know or completely disable its memory.

Enzor-DeMeo noted that there are not only AI skeptics but also a majority of the global population that does not have access to it. According to some statistics, about 83% of the global population has not used AI, and in the United States, only about 3% pay for it. He described AI as “largely unprofitable” and predicted that we will soon start seeing many more ads in AI services.

“Sometimes, especially in the tech bubble, I think we have a bit of tunnel vision or an echo chamber of AI, AI, AI, but I think when you look at it on a global scale, there’s not a lot of access,” he told me. “If we actually take the path where AI becomes more browser-centered, and that’s how people access the Internet, you run the risk of the Internet becoming more closed off.”

AI tools need a lot of information about you to provide an optimal experience — “that’s just the hard reality.” But he stated that Firefox focuses on active consent. “I think there’s a tipping point in the market with a lack of trust in big tech companies,” Enzor-DeMeo said. “There’s a tipping point on what AI is doing to society, and I think people are yearning for control, autonomy, choice, and essentially, privacy.”

Firefox's Built-in VPN: 1.5 Million Sign-Ups

To help maintain this privacy, Firefox introduced a free VPN in the browser last month. Enzor-DeMeo stated that one of his priorities as CEO since December was to create an integrated VPN product, as it is much easier for people to click a button in the browser than to open another app and connect — “a mediocre experience,” he noted.

While many VPNs offer browser extensions to simplify the process, keep in mind that a browser-based VPN typically only encrypts your activity in that browser, not in other applications on your device. You need VPN applications for more robust privacy protections.

Firefox's VPN now has 1.5 million sign-ups, with Mozilla currently offering an unlimited VPN package from June 9 to August 31 that allows you to select your geolocation. With about 800,000 active users already, Enzor-DeMeo said it was a sign of approval that Firefox has done the right thing, especially in the age of rampant AI, when the privacy offered by using a VPN is incredibly important.

“What we’re seeing is an increase in surveillance. There are many different challenges, depending on your geolocation, related to AI,” he told me. “We have always been strong advocates for VPNs. I believe people have a right to privacy. I think people should seek information on medical issues or things like that, and remain hyper-private. So for me, it was guided by ethics.”

The New Firefox: "Keeping the Internet a Fair Playground"

The redesign of Firefox features vertical tabs and rounded icons. Project Nova, which will simply be called Firefox upon its launch later this year, is focused on making Mozilla's browser faster (page load times are up to 9% faster than before, according to Mozilla), more secure, and customizable. Firefox has about 200 million monthly users. It is estimated that Firefox holds just over 2% of the browser market share, compared to 70% for Google Chrome and 16% for Apple’s Safari.

It is expected to launch in the fall, around September or October, although new features are being gradually rolled out in Nightly. Mozilla has sought feedback from its developer community and other users through its own forums and AMA posts on Reddit.

A new AI feature is tab groups, in which the AI will automatically group similar tabs you have open for easier searching. Enzor-DeMeo stated that his approach to AI is to find efficiency features that people would actually benefit from.

Beyond AI, the new Firefox will receive visual enhancements, including a compact mode; a rounded shape for panels, menus, settings, and browser controls; a glow around your active tab; and built-in accessibility features.

“What we’re trying to do is keep the web open, safe, and competition fair,” Enzor-DeMeo said. “Our goal is not to be the biggest browser; it’s to keep the Internet a fair playground.”