Firefox Community Forum

When the AI chatbot is enabled in the sidebar but "collapsed" -- the tool not engaged -- is any data sent to the chatbot provider? Can the chatbot be collecting data while not engaging with the user? Or is context sent only with prompts and limited to the tab that is open?

What sort of sandboxing is enforced by Firefox?

I am just burned out with Firefox and not sure why I should continue to use it instead of some fork or Chromium-based browser.

It seems like every update brings some new GenAI/LLM component that is auto-enabled and difficult to disable. I do not want GenAI/LLMs in my web browser. I have dropped nearly every other application or software that has forced it on me and included it in their product. I feel like I'm trying manage a Windows system having to follow blogs to debloat, restore privacy, and restore security. GenAI/LLMs shouldn't be in my web browser. And, they should be opt-in, not opt-out in some confusing mix of GUI and about:config madness. If GenAI/LLM is so great, then make it an extension or a fork then let those folks use it from there. Don't bake it into the web browser.

I continue to use Firefox for uBlock Origin but I guess that would be possible with a Firefox-fork. However, I am just tired of having to continuously manage my Firefox browser and battle websites that only support Chromium-based browsers. If Firefox actually seemed intent on improving security and privacy then I could find the motivation but this GenAI/LLM nonsense seems the point of no return.

On my Android phone, I've switched to a Chromium-based browser given the poor state of security and hardening for the vanilla Firefox. I keep IronFox on hand but it is just easier to surf the web with a Chromium-based browser due to many websites just working better. Why should I deal with the pain and frustration of limited Firefox support when Firefox isn't even keeping up with security hardening?

As for desktop, the Firefox browser just doesn't seem as snappy or stable as I would expect. Firefox for Linux is still not supported for Slack Huddles. How is it 2026 and Mozilla/Firefox are still not fully functional with one of the major business chat platforms? Yes, I know this primarily a Slack and AWS-Chime-SDK problem but it is also a Firefox problem because there isn't much that a user can do. I've tried to prod Slack and the AWS teams numerous times to support Firefox but they've just done nothing. I also see nothing being done by the Firefox team, too.

Another example is the EdgeSuite CDN. Nearly always they block my traffic when I use Firefox. Switch to a Chromium-based browser and EdgeSuite is much less likely to block me. This is fairly consistent for the retail and financial institutions I use.

As far as I am aware, many of the security concerns brought up by Madaidan in 2022 still hold true for Firefox today, especially for Android and Linux. If this is no longer true, then it might be good for the Firefox team to post a rebuttal or update clarifying the current state of Firefox. The average users such as myself only see the Madaidan blog post and have to take it at face value. https://madaidans-insecurities.github.io/firefox-chromium.html

Anyway, I don't see a way ahead for me and Firefox but maybe you can convince me. It just seems like Firefox and Mozilla have lost their way. They no longer seem focused on security and privacy. Instead they're forcing privacy, security, and system resource disasters onto their userbases, just like Microsoft, Google, and every one of the major tech firms. I just don't see why I should use, promote, and even support Firefox going into 2026.

I had switched to Firefox some time ago because of the privacy-invading AI that Google and Microsoft were implementing at the time, and it appeared Mozilla had their consumers' interests in mind when it came to privacy and performance. I suppose even they are willing to shoot themselves in the foot with the market failure that is generative AI, despite the recent reports about Copilot's abysmal sales proving that this maneuver is incredibly short-sighted.

Not only are these AI "features" enabled by default upon updating, the options to disable each of them are all hidden away in the about:config page. On top of that, having these options enabled leads to worse performance overall, and the breach of privacy inherent to these features is quite worrisome as well.

The best step now is to remove these features completely. If Mozilla won't remove them, they should at least have them disabled by default, making them opt-in as opposed to the opt-out situation currently in place. Perhaps they could be listed as proper options somewhere in about:preferences so that people don't have to comb through the about:config list?

I know I would appreciate not having to switch browsers again, and I'm sure plenty of users would like to have their privacy respected as well. We don't want to see this browser become as terrible to use as other big-name brands. If Mozilla keep pushing these invasive features, we will find something else to use.

I realise any privacy or user control statements made by Mozilla are really a farce. One, there's no meaningful way to protect user privacy these days, not on the web. Trying would be a more accurate term. Two, the CEO is in control of the product design and he's banking on customer loyalty, betting on an outcome where people will just continue to use the product regardless of how bad the new AI features are or how much they contradict the company's supposed ethos. And it'll probably work for a spell, but here's the thing: free clones of Firefox already exist, and customer loyalty only goes so far. It won't be terribly convenient, but if I continue to see Mozilla adopt AI in its updates, I'll just switch over to something else.

I know some underpayed tech or a volunteer who's not getting paid at all is going to read this and not the CEO but my hope is I'm not only one complaining and that if enough people complain your new CEO will realize that the reason most people who use Firefox do is because it's the browser that respects their privacy and security the most. Adding "AI" slop into it will only contribute to bloat and privacy loss, and a lot of people will likely move on to another browser thats faster, more reliable, and less insecure. Don't try to compete with Chrome by becoming Chrome please.

If Firefox becomes an "AI browser" as it's new CEO says I will switch to another browser. The privacy and environmental problems alone are enough for me to warrant this change, to say nothing of how it's slowing the browser itself down and making it worse. I'm sick and tired of AI shoving itself into every single aspect of life, taking things that already worked fine on their own and making them worse for no reason, in addition to ruining the planet and encroaching more and more on the privacy of everyday folks like myself. Anthony Enzor-DeMeo's insistence that we should "trust" this hypothetical version of the browser is frankly sickening, and everyone involved in this scam should be ashamed.

there's no way I'll continue to use Firefox if AI is implemented, for years the reason I used this browser is because of it's safety and security and I believe if AI is implemented that will indefinitely go away. I will ditch this browser if this comes to pass.

I choose Firefox because of its security and privacy measures. This will be completely undercut by implementing pointless ai features. Mozilla's choice of new CEO is incredibly questionable, especially as the ai bubble draws closer and closer to bursting.

Hello! Long time Firefox user here, grew up with a father working in IT security. He's mentioned this a few times before, but now we've both really noticed the push towards using generative AI in roles in IT where it's really unsuitable, and honestly quite a risk to security and privacy, not to mention quite a waste of time having to fact check things properly because I cannot even be sure that the first result in a Google search for "how far away is the moon" will be correct. We're quite concerned that Firefox is following suit, especially with the new CEO evidently not understanding some of the fundamentals of why this browser has such a dedicated user base. Just wondering if saving the money by not having to hire competent, trained professionals who can provide the human touch needed to run a browser is truly worth eroding Firefox's reputation of being the genuinely good alternative to Chrome? How long before the AI stops being optional? How much of the code is going to end up written by some language learning algorithm and passed off as safe? If this push is to continue, what alternatives does anyone in the community suggest? Thank you for any responses from both myself and my father :-)

I switched to firefox because I was annoyed at the integration of ai into my previous browser. If the new CEO of firefox fulfills his plans to add more ai into firefox, I will switch browsers again. The integration of ai is completely unnecessary, the vast majority of users will not use the features at all or will leave firefox as I plan to. Firefox has always stood apart by protecting the data privacy of those who use it and integrating ai will ruin that.

I switched from chrome to firefox earlier this year because I was TIRED of google chrome and its horrific privacy and security. I'm extremely disappointed to hear that your new CEO wants to further integrate AI into Firefox. If this course is not reversed, I WILL be uninstalling Firefox. I will also encourage all of my friends (whom I just convinced to switch from chrome with me) to switch as well.

I have dealt with the shortcomings of Firefox because it does not integrate AI.

If Firefox is also going to integrate AI, there is absolutely no reason for me to continue using it.

So, as I’m sure everyone has heard by now, the new CEO wants to make Firefox an “AI browser”. As a long time user, I think I speak for a lot of us when I say WE DON’T WANT THIS. In fact, the reason many of us were here is that Firefox was pretty much the last major browser not to give in to using generative AI for everything. I hope the CEO backtracks on this, or Firefox is going to lose a TON of users and money. Let’s go over the facts.

- Generative AI uses an unsustainable amount of energy and water, and AI data centers are responsible for a lot of air pollution. - AI tools are frequently incorrect, and lead to misinformation being spread. - Data is frequently scraped for AI training without user permission, and leaks are very common. This goes completely against Mozilla’s commitment to privacy, which was one of the big reasons I started using Firefox to begin with.

This announcement is very disappointing, and the CEO really needs to reconsider. Keep Firefox secure. Keep “AI” LLMs OUT.

have you gone mad??? why would you want to add ai bullshit to firefox? the only reason people use firefox is because you aren't doing all that bullshit, and stealing all our data

I am really frustrated by the additional AI features coming to Firefox soon. How can I ensure I will be notified as those features are rolled out, and how can I turn them off for my personal browser? To clarify, I don’t want any of my data, activity, or history to be accessible by any AI, and I don’t want to interact with any AI when I use Firefox.

I hope this goes somewhere, like a representative email or something. But I use firefox because it's user and cpu friendly, and it isn't spying on me like Google. I can disable so many analytics and have privacy extensions. Re: your new CEO's intro article, I find it infringing upon my privacy to force AI features on my browser like this. Your primary userbase does not want this.

I did not ask for to have intrusive AI slop put in our browsers.

I literally switched over to Firefox for very specific reasons. I stopped using other browsers, such as chrome and other chromium based browsers, because they eventually got filled with AI bloatware slop that didn't really add anything to how we use the internet browsers

Firefox literally had something going on that stood out from rest of the market, and now you're willing enough to throw it all away for short-term gains to be made off the AI bubble? Firefox could've been the market leader in having a simple browser with no AI slop or general bloat added.

Not to mention the fact that AI is just straight up invasive as its basically just thinly veiled attempt to get more sensitive data harvested off users, to produce more money without paying compensation for the time used on the browser. In addition to opening up vectors for identity theft and fraud.

Once again, why is it absolutely necessary to have AI in the browser?

Since the new CEO of Firefox seems to be very determined to add more AI features to the browser that I've been using (among other things) specifically to escape AI slop, I will be considering switching to another browser. It will be disheartening to abandon the browser I've been using for years, but I value my personal data (and cpu) too much to let an AI handle it. I appreciated his words that it would be "Completely opt-in, you have full control, and if you try it and find it’s not for you, you can choose to switch it off", but I strongly believe that all AI browsers are inherently insecure. The first AI feature that I can't make completely disappear forever with one click will be my sign to switch browsers. Hopefully, Firefox re-thinks its approach and decides not to destroy the exact thing that makes it so valuable - the commitment to protect the users' privacy.

I have many, MANY issues with LLMs, but a lot of them come down to this: I don't want my computer doing things that can't be fully tracked down in logs.

LLMs and other "ai" aren't traceable, and their outputs aren't truly repeatable: their information comes from loose associative heuristics that don't follow any kind of human logic, and they are inherently prone to erroneous data. Even if there was an ai that was right 99% of the time (which is currently impossible, with all existing models being at MOST 50% accurate), I wouldn't want to use it if it couldn't show me exactly where its information came from, without errors and without hallucinations, every time.

There's enough misinformation on the internet as it is. I don't want my browser, the vehicle I use to navigate information, adding more.

In addition, I don't really want my bank account information stolen when I read a Reddit post, thanks.

I read that your new CEO is pro use of AI and doubling down on wanting to implement it. Meanwhile the literal main reason most people I know to use Firefox is that it doesn't have AI slopware. I really urge anyone capable of doing so to help reconsider a decision that is going to let down long-time users such as myself. It is getting harder and harder to avoid data leaks and security risks, and until now, Firefox seemed to have been the best browser for these purposes. I don't want to switch, but if you do this, I will have to.

Hello, I choose to use Firefox because it does not have the amount of bloat and spyware that exist with other browsers. I fear that the recent call to add AI to the browser's functions will both slow the processing time down as well as increase the amount of spyware involved. I cannot see how this is a positive for the future of Firefox. All I can say definitively at this point is that should AI functions be added in I will be finding a way to never use them, even if it means kneecapping things for other functionality in the process. I will also be keeping an eye out for extensions or addons that remove the AI, as I have already with other AI online.