Firefox Community Forum

https://blog.mozilla.org/en/mozilla/leadership/mozillas-next-chapter-anthony-enzor-demeo-new-ceo/

I've been using Firefox for over a decade, but I'm switching to a different platform now. Firefox's CEO, Anthony Enzor-DeMeo, appears to approve of garbage-quality AI summaries and a general lack of a thought process from the users themselves. Sure, he mentions that AI should be a choice, which includes being able to turn it off, but guess what: if I want a choice of AI, then I'd rather choose to turn it on in the first place. I'm not tolerating slop on my browser. I uninstalled it from Windows, and I will sure as hell will rid of it here, too.

Read the room. The general public hasn't been supporting Copilot, so god knows why they'd happily embrace this garbage infesting their Internet browsers, as well. Good bye, and good riddance.

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 :-)

This wave of so-called AI (really nothing of the sort) is a nightmare for security, usability, performance and efficiency and if you keep forcing it on us I'll be jumping ship, probably for whichever fork excising it all gets popular.

I've been using first the Mozilla suite and then Firefox (since it was called Firebird, even) for twenty years now, don't do this to the browser I love.

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.

I am uncomfortable with the push for unnecessary ai content and features on firefox and if they are added without easy ways to remove or disable I will be switching to a different browser

I hopped onto firefox the same way many others did- looking for a browser that didn't have the ties to privacy issues or baggage of bloatware, and especially since all of the other browsers are changing things to focus on AI. And now that firefox is joining that chain I wonder why I even bother trying to get attached.

Like, on the one hand I can somewhat see where the CEO is coming from, everyone's getting a cool new toy and you want in on that, that's understandable. But with something as half-baked, destructive, and actively contentious as AI, I wonder the true value of playing with things like that.

In fact, have you SEEN what's going on with AI? Microsoft's shoved Copilot into every aspect of windows 11, their PCs, their browser, their marketing, and what did they get? Regret! They regretted that decision as consumers aren't happy with that decision!

Even OpenAI, the granddaddy of all LLM stuff around, they're not even going to be profitable until 2030. Yes, that's 4 years away. No, I sincerely HOPE they don't last that long.

Why Mozilla is picking this decision? FOMO, I presume, but like. It doesn't have to be this way, it's allowed to be a small bastion where people can actually pick what I want out of it. I dislike the fact Perplexity got added to my search functions, but I'm happy that I could turn it off.

For the love of god Montresor, don't lock us in here.

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.

To whoever this new CEO is of firefox,

Stop with the AI garbage. Please.

AI is a notorious waste of space in software and all it does is bog down the experience and make everything harder for everyone. Also it is notorious for collecting information and violating users privacy like the lab rats you apparently take us for.

Stop it.

I loved Firefox because I could use it comfortably without all of this stupid AI crap making my life harder. I've already hacked my browser to make sure this doesn't appear but I'm not satisfied. To any other firefox tech reading this get that Anthony guy out of here. We don't want him, and we don't want AI.

Thank you.

So I've recently seen some stuff on my social media about Mozilla's new CEO talking about pushing AI into Firefox. And WTF?!

Is this some sort of stupid corporate bullshit or just a delayed April Fool's joke?!

There is literally NO CONCEIVABLE REASON for introducing AI into ANY browser, let alone Firefox. I started using Firefox over 15 years ago for the personalisaton features and readily available add ons and to date it's still the best browser I've used.

To my knowledge, a lot of people have recently switched to Firefox in order to avoid the unnecessary/unwanted spyware and bloatware that comes baked into most other browsers and this seems like a massive middle finger to them. The only reason I can see to introduce AI is either because you want to lose users, or are so desperate for cash you're willing to fuck over everything and everyone to get it.

the only reason ive been using firefox is because its one of the few browsers that doesnt use AI. now this? anthony enzor-demeo what in the hell is wrong with you? no one wants this, stop pushing AI in a browser we all use SPECIFICALLY to avoid other browsers' (like chrome) sell out. i dont care if there's opt out I don't want this to be an option in the first place, and I know a lot of others feel the same.

i am not the kind of person who has brand loyalty, and if you continue with this I'll find something else to use.

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 have strong ethical objections to the current generation of LLMs, and really strongly dislike contributing to Google's massive monopoly on most internet spaces, hence my using Firefox instead of Chrome. I was disheartened by the addition of an AI label to Firefox, and really would love to be able to continue using a good browser that doesn't shove AI slop down my throat. If the integration of LLMs to Firefox is going to continue, I wanted to ensure there will at least be some way to remove it from my browser

Having heard the news that Firefox's latest CEO wants to turn it into yet another AI-slop browser, I came to this forum to give feedback as an avid Firefox user over the last 4-5 years. I can see I'm not alone either; there are tons of other users who seem to feel the same way I do.

This is a very, VERY bad decision. So far, every "AI update" that has already hit Firefox has done nothing but make the browser worse and more inefficient. A few months ago, Mozilla was getting hit by complaints from desktop users about memory usage skyrocketing due to the implementation of an AI chatbot into Firefox. Now they've added AI search engines among other things. And surprise, surprise--no one seems to actually want to use these features. Why should we, if all it does is make computers run slower, overheat, and doesn't actually answer any useful questions or contribute anything meaningful?

I'm baffled at Mr. Enzor-DeMeo saying he wants to go all-in on making Firefox an "AI browser" with his whole chest in the SAME week that Microsoft has had to lower their growth targets for AI-related sales, some of them up to 50%, because NO ONE seems to actually be buying AI products. You know, on account of (you guessed it) not finding them very useful.

Other people have already mentioned the myriad of other problems with AI too, so I won't touch on those too much, other than to agree that AI is a plagiarism machine that's doing serious environmental damage. What I WILL say is that I personally have been using Firefox all this time specifically because it's avoided the AI craze as much as other browsers, or at the very least, avoided making it "opt-out" instead of "opt-in" to the same degree. But if this changes in the near future and Firefox does become yet another inefficient AI slopfest of a browser, I may seriously rethink my loyalty to Firefox and switch back to Chrome instead. After all, there would be functionally no difference between the two browsers anyway!

Please rethink this decision and consider actually listening to user feedback going forward. If Mozilla actually wants to retain their userbase, I'm sure I'm not the only person thinking about dropping Firefox for Chrome in the future.

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.

I've recently learned that Firefox is pivoting to use more GenAI in its browser, and not to beat a dead horse, but I think I'm speaking with a large amount of the users of this browser when we beg for this not to become a thing. I specifically switched from Google in order to dodge their AI systems, and it feels like a slap in the face for Firefox to do the exact same thing. Now only is AI terrible for the already deteriorating environment and water, but it also shares misinformation, has encouraged people to end their own lives, steals art from people who put hours into their craft, and is frequently used for deepfakes, non-consensual imagery of people doing various sexual acts, CP, propaganda, and more.

I really thought that Firefox was one of the good ones. I'm immensely disappointed in the fact that they would choose to do this, and if this GenAI thing actually goes through, I for one will no longer be supporting Mozilla, Firefox, or any of their content for the foreseeable future, until they remove these harmful features.

I recently heard about Mozilla's potential future plans to increase the browser's AI features, and wanted to voice my concerns about this.

I avoid using AI due to environmental, privacy, and ethical reasons, and one of my main motivations for choosing Firefox over another browser is specifically because of the option to turn AI features off. (And I believe this is the case for a large portion of the userbase.)

If Mozilla opts to push for more AI implementation within Firefox, I will switch to another browser.