Firefox Community Forum

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

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 cannot figure out another place to submit this feedback. If Firefox insists on adding AI bloatware content to its browser, I will stop using it, and I know that I am not the only one. It is such a bummer to see the browser that is most trusted for being a high-powered, privacy focused browser go down this road. AI is dangerous.

The continued implementation of AI "features" in Mozilla Firefox has made it harder and harder to do what I want! It bloats the browser and makes it harder to find the actual results I'm looking for, it violates people's privacy and fabricates potentially dangerous misinformation. Further implementation of AI will lead me- and many others- to seek alternative browsers. When will you stop spending money on a thing your users don't want?

Firefox has been my entire family's browser of choice for as long as I can remember. Which one am I supposed to use now that Firefox won't quit shoving bloatware and diminished performance at me? I'm also seeing articles stating that they plan on making it even worse with more AI. I'm supposed to let them steal my data and turn my browser into sludge with absolutely no benefit to myself? And they're asking me to donate to them on top of it???

Does anyone know of a viable Firefox alternative that isn't a chrome dupe?

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.

Hi, I've noticed that web pages load slower recently. As all of the recent updates seem to be about adding AI features to the browser, I can only assume that this is the problem. I have disabled the .ml. settings and saw an improvement in performance, but performance is still degrading over time as new updates release, so I'm guessing that I missed something in the settings.

I'm also concerned about privacy. As these AI features make use of tools that cannot always be run completely locally, it increases vulnerability to provide very little value, if any at all. I would argue that it makes the browser worse rather than better, so that's not worth any level of risk to me.

If these features continue to be expanded then I will look for an alternative browser. I know that it is tough to find browsers which aren't Chromium-based these days, but it's not impossible. Firefox is not the only choice.

I strongly disagree with the proposed AI-centric direction for Firefox. I already disable any current AI features in this browser and disagree with them being there at all. I am firmly anti-AI in the form/use that is most prevalent. I don't want an AI chatbot or AI summaries. AI is not a replacement for human thought. It cannot perceive. It cannot understand. It cannot communicate. Even if it produces a convincing enough mimicry of those things to convince some people that it is capable of doing those things. It's like that IBM training slide from 1979 that says "A computer can never be held accountable, therefore a computer must never make a management decision." Firefox's blog entry about these proposed updates is full of nothing but glittering generalities, just buzz-phrases like "you're in control" and "a better browser" and "trusted companion." AI is not a trusted companion. AI is hyper-advanced autocorrect. And with AI's harshness on the environment (requires astronomical and unsustainable amounts of water) and on the browser itself (slows it down considerably and makes it more vulnerable to security breaches like prompt injection attacks), I just don't think "everybody else is doing AI" is a valid reason to override the main reason most Firefox users use it (because of its lack of AI features and focus on privacy). I'm a long-time user of Firefox and I have really enjoyed it, but one of the biggest issues I have had with it in the last few years is disabling all the AI garbage features that keep getting sneaked in. If AI use or AI-driven features become a substantial part of Firefox, I won't be using it anymore.

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 think you should consider launching your new CEO out of a canon, metaphorically speaking.

If people wanted AI slop shoved in their faces, they'd go use a crappy chromium browser, which is where that stuff lives. We use Firefox because we don't want any of that crap in our browsing experience. "As long as you can trust it" - who does this guy think he is? You can't 'trust' AI, it's not a person, it's a tool (implement) used by tools (inept idiot).

You also can't trust corporations that pivot to AI, either. If you want to double down on anything relating to AI, then double down on keeping Firefox AI slop free, and ensuring that you are the browser for those that need refuge from this crap.

I remember when Firefox really was a nonprofit that survived on donations from its users, rather than just another corporate shill for companies and LLMs.

Be better. You disappoint me.

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.

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.

Hi i saw something saying the browser wanted to use more ai etc, is this true? Is there a way to opt out of these services in total if so?

I use firefox for the privacy and to avoid bloatware so itld be really disappointing if its now looking to use ai more in its services.

This is the most annoying behavior. For the most time I would like to use panel once or twice a day to ask some question to continue on conversation in some chat but whenever I close the AI chat-bot panel it resets its context and throws me onto the default page of the provider of my choosing. I have to click my way into the proper chat every time. Could a chat-bot panel keep its context or keep it session at the place where I left it?

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.

Please don't fucking add more AI bullshit into the browser version of firefox im begging. I swtiched to firefox instead of chrome because you guys had LESS issues but now you're adding MORE issues. I'm gonna switch to something else if you do this. AI is not gonna help you in the long run. Bye.