Mozilla’s new CEO: AI is coming to Firefox, but you can turn it off

Mozilla recently confirmed that it is shifting gears and bringing AI features to its Firefox browser. However, according to new CEO Anthony Enzor-DeMeo, AI features will still be optional and can be turned off completely.

“AI should always be a choice, something people can easily turn off. People should know why a feature works the way it does and what value they get from it,” Enzor-DeMeo wrote in a blog post.

The goal here is to combine new AI features with Mozilla’s long-standing focus on privacy, aiming to strengthen Firefox’s position in a market where browsers like Perplexity Comet, Opera, and OpenAI’s ChatGPT Atlas are looming around built-in AI.

While Mozilla’s sudden adoption of AI is disappointing for many Firefox fans, it’s perhaps unsurprising given the company’s recent struggles. The global market share of Firefox browsers has stagnated between 2% and 2.5% over the past year, with a slight but notable downward trend in recent months. In 2024, Mozilla will lay off 30% of its staff.