Firefox Community Forum

Firefox had been a safe haven for anti-AI, and used to be my go-to search engine. If this AI bullshit continues, no one will respect or use the browser. Stop implementing AI garbage that steals data

I come, trying to manage my disappointment and anger, to say only one thing: I love Firefox, it (still) has the best UX of any modern browser. And part of that is that it has NO AI malware built into it. The recent statements from the CEO regarding the implementation of AI into the browser is extremely disappointing, to the point of it feeling like a personal betrayal, and will only make me (and a lot of other people) just completely abandon it. And don't kid yourselves, your user base never was so low, and that user base only like this browser specifically because it has no malware built into it, because of the privacy and open nature you had before this debacle. You're shooting yourselves on booth feet and an arm with a shotgun. I don't trust you as a company anymore at all; you just achieved the complete opposite of what you said you wanted. If you just made use of reverse psychology and was that's your actual goal, congrats. This company quite literally couldn't have elected a worse person to be chief executive.

I am very disappointed to learn that Firefox is moving forward with AI integration. I use this browser specifically because there is no AI. AI tools are a drain on public resources such as clean water and electricity, and the data centers that host the AI servers are a burden in many ways on the communities where they're built.

Additionally, I am concerned that the AI will turn all of our browser history into an AI slop ad factory where our data is more easily collected and sent off to generate more ads.

If AI is integrated into FireFox, I will no longer use this browser, even if the AI can be "turned off".

Is there any way to keep AI out of FireFox?

Hi there!

I'm a long time user of Firefox, on and off since roughly 2004.

I just saw the Mozilla blog post about Anthony Enzor-Demeo taking over as Mozilla's CEO this morning and am writing here in an attempt to find a way to reach out to anyone within the Mozilla Foundation regarding the direction the Firefox application has been headed, and try to make myself and similar minds within the Firefox community heard about the changes that Mozilla has made to its policies and direction.

In February 27th of this year, Mozilla changed Firefox's ToS and Privacy Notices to incorporate legally binding policies for the application and strip it of its original privacy-first, open-source nature. This, while not a deterministic factor in how the application operates; illustrates a sudden, outward and hostile stance towards its existing user-base who is most commonly comprised of users dissatisfied with the lack of secure and private browser options available. Personally, I refuse to use Chromium-based web engines wherever possible and Firefox has been my one and only way to break from this "monopoly" of web engines.

Beginning to harvest user data for use by Mozilla and claiming ownership of any user content is immediately a massive breach of trust and contradicts what Mozilla as an organization has stood for since its inception. Going a step further to utilize this data to either be sold to advertisers as an asset, or to be used to train LLM's is exactly what I DON'T want to have happen with my data. I hate that this change happened and it massively reduced my trust in Mozilla and Firefox as a platform.

I never asked for this, Mozilla promised that it would never happen, and now I'm left betrayed by broken promises made with the express intent to turn a profit on my behalf as a user.

In Anthony's blog post, he mentions how AI has reshaped how people search, shop and make decisions in ways that were hard to see or understand. I outwardly disagree with this statement and feel as though AI has "infected" its way through society by brute force, being put in front of every user and shoved in every application. LLM's are not a catchall solution, do not help resolve issues in new and innovative ways, and are massively misused, causing excessive resource usage, gutting consumer markets, and decimating the tech industry by causing excessive amounts of data centers and global tech inventories to be purchased and built with no promise of delivery.

While I may want a fast, modern browser that is honest about what it does- I want that with no obscurity. I want a web engine that is open source, as lightweight and minimal in its design and coding as possible; and with no bureaucracy. I want to know how the engine works, to have the option to review its codebase front to back, to have my data stay as my data on my own local machine without providing it to a third party simply by using an application. Mozilla with its changes since February of this year have removed this as a possibility from their entire application suite.

I don't want AI in my browser- AT ALL. I have disabled it in every capacity that I can (frustratingly too, as these are all enabled by default and FORCE me to provide you my data without express consent.) and with every advancement Mozilla makes towards calling it "the future" and "the focal point", I lose trust. I don't want AI, I want the old privacy policy put back, and I really, well and truly and wholly, DO NOT WANT AI.

I NEVER ASKED FOR THIS, IT'S RUINING OUR LIVES, OUR SOCIETY, OUR PLANET, AND I WANT IT GONE.

Unless Mozilla stops this direction today, I will be seeking out new options, disallowing Firefox usage in any corporate environments within my jurisdiction, and actively informing friends, family and acquaintances of Mozilla and Firefox's fall from grace, and to utilize other user-centric options.

Thank you for your attention, have a great day, and I hope Mozilla can create action that will allow its users to trust it once again.

Anthony Enzor-DeMeo wants to push way more AI onto Firefox. I originally became a Firefox user for the customizability, privacy, and security it offered in comparison to other browsers. How does Mozilla Firefox intend to maintain these features with so much AI slop? Will there continue to be versions of Firefox available without the AI components? I'm sick of having to turn off new data-stealing AI settings all the time on a browser I once trusted. I hate that I am now looking for other options.

This isn't so much a question as a complaint, I guess. Get your shit together, Firefox!!!

if Mozilla continues on its path of adding new AI features into Firefox, i am going to switch browsers. I stopped using chrome, i can stop using Firefox too. Nobody using Firefox needs more AI features. Nobody using Firefox needs a "modern AI browser", as there's already about 10 browsers filled to the brim with AI slopware. this is an extremely disappointing turn for Mozilla to take and I'm hoping they realize their mistakes before it's too late.

I am here to complain about the recent additions of ai. I use this browser because it is one of, if not the only, browser to not use ai. Fuck off with that if you think anyone who switched to firefox to avoid all the ai bullshit wont just do the same and leave. If ever my only option to use the internet in any capasity was to use an ai run browser, then I'm fucking off the internet forever and going caveman. Porn, fanfiction, and video games have been my only reason for not saying fuck this and going to live in the woods and eat dirt and shit naked in the rain for years now, don't be my last straw.

Is there any way I can prevent Mozilla from installing/enabling more AI features on my Firefox browser in the future?

I do not want AI running on my machine. I do not want AI integration in my browser. I understand I will still run into AI in the wilds of the internet, but I especially do not want these features enabled ON MY OWN MACHINE in an update without me specifically opting into them. Installing and enabling this without user opt-in communicates clear disrespect to the users.

I did a cursory search here for similar questions and Mozilla staff appear to be stating there will be no AI in Firefox unless the user specifically enables it, and it is as simple as disabling them via settings if "accidentally" enabled. This was not my experience, and it is alarming to see false information provided to users .

I have found other sources indicating the following must be set to false in about:config in order to disable browser-side AI/AI integration: browser.ml.chat.enabled browser.ml.chat.page.footerBadge browser.ml.chat.page.menuBadge browser.ml.chat.shortcuts browser.ml.chat.shortcuts.custom browser.ml.chat.sidebar browser.ml.checkForMemory browser.ml.enable browser.ml.linkPreview.shift

Is that all of them, will these disable ALL of the AI in Firefox?

Are there any other settings I need to set to false to ensure no AI is either running on my machine or the browser is not integrating AI functionality from third parties?

Is there any way to ensure Mozilla doesn't force AI features to be enabled without my say-so (again)?

Are there any privacy-minded browsers comparable to Firefox that DO respect their users with regards to forcing AI on them? It may be time to jump ship.

I use firefox as my browser of choice because it seems to be the only large browser not yet completely flooded with AI slop and bloatware. I'm incredibly disappointed that the new direction seems to be "becoming a modern AI browser". I don't care if I can opt-in or opt-out of AI tools for my personal browser experience - simply their presence presents a safety, efficiency, ethical and privacy concern.

The ONE THING that puts firefox above other browsers and why it is gaining more users recently is because it hasn't jumped into the AI-toilet along with Chrome etc. Yet. If Firefox moves forward with the implementation of more AI tools, regardless of individual opt-in options, I will have no choice but to stop using firefox. I am simply not interested in wading through excrement.

I just want to say that if Firefox goes through with this AI bs, I will promptly be finding a new browser. The whole point of me using Firefox is it is the best browser for privacy, which I care about greatly. AI integration and personal privacy are mutually exclusive; they can't exist without each other. So do not become an "AI browser," or whatever the CEO called it. It is only going to kill a great product that is basically the only thing stopping google from having a web browser monopoly.

Firefox is already a product that works and is probably the best alternative to any of the other major browsers out there. It's a product that I've been happy to use for many, many years. So why is it being ruined by this needless push to add in "AI"? I don't want it. I don't want any part of it to touch my experience using this browser. I want either an easy way to completely turn it off so it can't suck up my data and expose my private information, or not have it be included at all. I will actively be looking for alternative browsers if these plans continue.

I love firefox. I recommend it to everyone. Because it's the only browser that appeared to have my best interest at heart. I develop extensions firefox-first rather than chrome-first. I don't want generative AI getting anywhere near any of my things, and I'm sorry to say I've switched to Waterfox for now. Please backtrack on this, I just want to use the internet without AI plastered in my face :<

I, among many of my peers, have spent the last few years struggling to get rid of unwanted AI in our lives and computers, scraping out information and invading our privacy like a virus. So many Firefox users chose Firefox BECAUSE it had no forced AI. We chose Firefox BECAUSE it doesn't steal our data or invade our privacy.

We have trusted Mozilla for years and heralded it as the only good browser left. We're begging you to not do this. The AI bubble will pop. Everyone is mad about this. Do not do this. Please.

I beg of you, please do not go forward with the AI focused policies. AI as it currently stands is a rapidly sinking ship that a LOT of consumers hate, and that group is coincidentally the group that most frequently uses Firefox. By pushing forward AI-first policies, you are alienating your userbase, destroying the privacy and usability that makes Firefox special, and you're upsetting millions of people that love this service. Please, for the love of god, DON'T GO FORWARD WITH AI. Stick to what makes Firefox special, and it will flourish as every other browser becomes more and more unusable.

why does everything have to have AI these days? it’s so stupid! like sorry I want to think and do computer tasks for myself without some water-guzzling, privacy-breaching bot getting in my way. I’m super disappointed that Firefox has chosen to go the way of AI after all the promises it’s made over the years about not being evil like certain other browsers. I’ve willingly put up with various downsides of Firefox (moodle not always loading, difficulties sending gifs in emails, etc) for years now because I believed in Firefox’s commitment to privacy and ethics. clearly that was all for nothing. thanks a lot for ruining the only browser that wasn’t complete slop!

I've used Firefox for a long time because it's been one of the few browsers that doesn't force features that harm its users onto the userbase. It's been leagues beyond the majority for that long time! The introduction of AI features over time has been a bell ringing for the loss of that thoughtful approach to aiding the users. AI in browsers has been used by malicious third parties to steal the data of anyone who visits specific sites, it's prone to misinformation when used to summarize anything, and simply doesn't add any value to the browsing experience. It gets in the way and slows it down, even! If more AI features are added, I will be finding a different browser to use.

I am looking for confirmation that Mozilla is moving to an 'AI browser'.

Will there be an option to not use this data harvesting LLM garbage or will mozilla be abandoning their core values?

I have happily used Firefox for years now, but I avoid using AI for both privacy and environmental reasons. I am extremely concerned by Mozilla's increased emphasis on these technologies. I do not want, nor will I put up with, new AI features in my browser. If the company continues this push, I will move to a different browser. It'll be very annoying, and I'll be really upset about it, but it's what I'll have to do if y'all keep going down this path. Please stop.

Just wanted to add my voice to the complaints about further AI being added to firefox. Firefox as a browser is a refuge from the enshittification of the internet as a whole, with it being one of the few non-chromium browser options, please dont join in the effort to force AI on everyone. At the very least it shouldnt take multiple options to disable AI in my browser. But at best I would love to see firefox development focused on performance rather than more AI bullshit that only CEO's want.