Firefox Community Forum

The recent news that Anthony Enzor-DeMeo is pushing for Firefox to integrate more AI.

I have used Firefox as my primary browser for 20 years. In that time, I have consistently advocated for its use in private and public forums (albeit with very little reach), in large part because it is a browser that does what I want, works, and doesn't shove a bunch of crap I don't want in my face. I recently read Waterfox's statement making it clear that they aren't going to do this, and that's the first time in my entire adult life that I have considered switching browsers.

I was already upset that I had to go disable AI features which were, for some stupid reason, enabled by default in the most recent versions. I do not want this garbage. I know I'm not alone. It would be annoying but easily ignored if these AI features were produced as mozilla-designed plugins or extensions, but for a browser that cares about privacy and security, this move is frankly inexplicable.

Please change course. This is one of the few organizations I actually have some level of trust in; it would be nice if you didn't squander that over some fancy new toys that nobody asked for.

(And, frankly, if you're going to ask us to fill out a survey, not having a question about this big new change and movement from the company is an... interesting choice.)

I have no interest in it and view it as a security risk and liability. I've been using Firefox for over a decade, every since I realized how horrible Google is. Why the heck would Mozilla do this?

I switched to Firefox on all devices for its better performance and better privacy, and of course it not having a gross amount of AI shoved into it. I work very well with this browser without AI, adding more of it will simply ruin the experience completely. Many people use Firefox because they wish to avoid AI from the start, Firefox shines thanks to this and should openly express how it won't fall into the same trap. Don't let this become every other browser.

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.

I've been doing free advertising for Firefox for years, successfully convincing friends, family and coworkers to reject chromium browsers and make the difficult choice to switch browsers and get use to a new interface on Firefox. I know most people like me are able to do this by touting that Firefox actually cares about keeping your data private and allowing users to opt in to many "features" that chromium browsers have you opt out of. Unfortunately with the recent inclusion of AI settings that have been turned on by default and hidden under layers of setting menus, it looks like Firefox is turning to the same tactics we came here to escape. If this trend coninues, I won't be able to in good concious recommend this browser to others, and might as well just switch back to chrome which more websites have better support for. I hope the company makes the right decision and keeps AI out of Firefox

go tell your new CEO that nobody wants AI in firefox. do this every day until it gets into his thick CEO skull, i know it might take a while because CEOs are fundamentally braindead but please, do it for us. in the meantime, i will look for another browser to use if you keep shovelling this garbage into firefox.

Like many others, I had switched over to Firefox because it was the most secure and AI-free option out there. I was willing to accept there would be minimal AI "features" as long as I was able to disable them immediately, which I did. Pushing for more will only alienate the users and make the overall user experience worse. I am tired of checking every second picture if it's AI generated. I am tired of seeing AI generated articles. I never read the AI summaries because who knows when they'll tell me to add glue to my pizza to make the cheese stick more. We already have studies that show generative AI affects an individual's capacity for thought. I have people in my life that are being affected by it. Firefox, being the only non-Chromium based browser, is basically a beacon of normalcy in all this bullshit. Don't mess up the trust of your community by stooping so low. If we wanted AI slop we would be using Google Chrome.

I left chrome and chromium browsers for firefox when it got recommended to me because the main selling point was no AI and no unnecessary bloating functions that slowed it down and that made searches accurate and reliable. Please, instead of trying to add more AI into it, work on removing what you've already implemented.

I saw an article claiming that Firefox/Mozilla's new leadership wants to go the same route as every other browser I've gone out of my way to stop using - to implement unnecessary AI wherever possible.

Is this true? Why?

I do not care if someone else wants to browse without actual search results, if someone wants to have their messages readily typed, or if someone only wants to have guesstimated generated summaries instead of actual snippets from websites. I do not care if someone else wants to have arbitrarily sorted bookmarks or whatever else it might be AI is supposedly good for.

I do not need or want any of these features in a web browser. Why does firefox think it should be the new default?

I have already manually turned off all the AI tools firefox offers this far - and I have been thankful for the option to do so! So now, if even this 'big' optionally somewhat AI free browser is genuinely going the forcefully unintelligent and frankly really pushy and overbearing and bloated way of all the others, I'm kindly asking for suggestions of other browsers to use in the future.

Generative AI relies on the blatant and flagrant violation of user privacy to train its own language models and supply users with its own stolen, bastardized input. It slows down the browser its built into with no benefit, forcing its users to jump through ridiculous hoops and workarounds to disable its resource-gobbling features. If we wanted this, we would swap to browsers like Chrome, Edge, or Opera. If this snake-oil abomination that dares to proclaim itself some sort of advanced "technology" continues to be enforced on us, I, and many others, will simply opt for a different browser that does not enforce this abomination upon its users; of which there are plenty.

Why is Firefox leanining into this ai nonsense? Its antithetical to privacy amd security, it slows down the browser for no benefit, so i end up jumping through hoops to turn it all off. If I wanted AI, I'd be using chrome or edge. I don't want AI. If firrfox continues to shove this ai onto us i'll have to switch again. Its self sabotage at this point

I am firmly against the application of AI into Firefox as a browser. If the supposed plans to integrate AI into Firefox come into fruition, I will not only look at installing another browser, but I will personally go to every person I know and advise they do the same. I will not support the business model of a company that puts profit above the wants and needs of its customers. I would hate to see the good name of Firefox be lost to misguided efforts to follow the AI hype to it's detriment.

I am so disappointed in the new ceos recent comments about doubling down on AI. I do not want AI. I do not want it forced down my throat. The whole point of Firefox is that it is less enshittified than other browsers and continuing down this path will make it just as shitty as everything else on the internet that doesn’t work any more. It’s bad enough that I have to find the settings to opt out of this shit every time there’s a new update that makes everything worse. I have been a happy Firefox user for many years but I will have to use another browser if AI gets imbedded into it any further than it has already. So angry and disappointed.

More of a suggestion than a question - I've been using Firefox for 20 years because of it's focus on privacy and it's lack of pushing trendy slop options (Sloptions?). Almost everyone who uses Firefox is going to be doing so because of this - It's what it's known for and is what makes it unique compared to other search engines. What is going on with the pushing of AI? At they very least make it easy to disable it, that's the bare minimum. This is such a weird shift for the company after years of differentiating itself and with a loyal user base who are using Firefox to avoid this. Why would we be here if not because Firefox is different? Please stop pushing this kind of crap!

Saw a bunch of news articles that said Mozilla has a new CEO who wants to make Firefox a modern AI browser. Fuck that. If I have to spend more than 30 seconds gouging AI bullshit out of the heart of your product, I will stop using it immediately and resort to open source alternatives. Not a question, just a warning. I don't use social media so send this to your PR department or whatever.

To the Firefox development community:

I started using Firefox... well, before it was Firefox. In the early browser wars, I was a devotee of Netscape. After high school, Firefox became a thing, and I was an early adopter. For years I eagerly spoke of the glories of the open source browser, and even when Chrome came around with its "new hotness", I stuck with Firefox. It was, I reckoned, just better.

However, something has happened which has shaken my faith in the browser - and in the Mozilla foundation entirely. As the whole internet screams "WE DO NOT WANT AI", as Valve gets endless kudos from its userbase and a reputation as "the only good monopoly" because it forces its game listings to have disclaimers if AI touches games in any way, and as it becomes known that ChatGPT is pushing teens to suicide...

Mozilla has decided "hey we want that in our browser!"

No.

No.

No.

No.

No.

This is the greatest betrayal of a userbase I can imagine. LLMs are the antithesis to the open-source, "you can see what goes into it" mindset that Firefox has had for over 20 years. It is bloat. It is built on plagiarism - by default, all LLMs are built by scraping huge amounts of data that their designers do not own.

Thankfully, there IS a branch of Firefox that does not use AI - the Waterfox project - and I will be turning my attention there. But mark my words - by deciding that the last holdout against putting AI in everything SHOULD put AI in it, you have soured an incredible amount of the goodwill that you have built up.

My personal recommendation: Fire the idiot who made this decision and replace him with ANYONE who has a modicum of sense in the Foundation.

As a last comment, I will say that I am ending it here because I believe this says enough of what I am thinking and feeling at the moment; if I was to say everything it would be approximately 90 pages long and be 35% obscenity by volume, and I don't think the forum rules allow that. Good evening, and may Mark Surman stub his toe every 129 seconds for the rest of his life.

AI is using my data and serving up slop from what it gathers. I'd like to keep as much AI slop out of my Firefox web browser as possible, is there information available on how to block AI features and results from my Firefox?

Hey I specifically switched to Firefox for its wonderful open sourcing, its private features, ai blockers, and accessibility and i am sorely disappointed to hear that the new CEO desires to pump this browser with AI. I did not get this browser for its AI features to be, but because it had NO AI. None. I really don't want to search for some other brower. I really love this browser since its away from Chromium, because its unique and its own thing. Please don't do this to your users, you have the base you want thats dedicated and loyal. It would be such an unsmart move to go towards AI, you will lose many many users.

Thank you for hearing out my complaint. Dont change anything and we will all be happy.