Firefox will start catering to those who don’t want AI in their browser. On Monday, Mozilla was announced that Firefox will soon allow users to block all current and future AI generation capabilities. Users will also have the option to block some AI features in Firefox while keeping others.
Starting with Firefox 148, which will be released on February 24, users will find a new AI control section in the desktop browser’s settings.
People who don’t want access to AI features from Firefox can turn on the “Block AI enhancements” toggle. When this setting is on, they won’t see pop-ups or reminders to use existing or upcoming AI features.
The new AI controls will also allow users to manage individual AI features. These features include Translations, which lets you browse the web in your preferred language, alt text in PDFs, AI-enhanced tab grouping, link previews, and the Firefox AI chatbot in the sidebar, which lets you use your chosen chatbot while you browse, including services like Anthropic Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini Lestral, and Google.
“AI is changing the web, and people want very different things from it,” the company wrote in a blog post. “We’ve heard from many who want nothing to do with AI. We’ve also heard from others who want AI tools that are actually useful. Listening to our community, along with our continued commitment to providing choice, led us to create AI controls.”
The announcement comes as Mozilla appointed Anthony Enzor-DeMeo as CEO in December. Enzor-DeMeo said at the time that Mozilla would invest in AI and add AI features to Firefox, but that the company would make those features optional.
“AI should always be an option — something people can easily turn off. People should know why a feature works the way it does and what value they get from it,” he wrote in a blog post.
Enzor-DeMeo’s comments come as Mozilla tries to adapt to a rapidly changing browser market. Although browsers like Firefox and Google Chrome have dominated the browser space for more than a decade, they are facing renewed competition from companies like Perplexity, Arc, OpenAI and Opera.
While Mozilla plans to invest in new AI capabilities, it’s also focused on transparency. CNBC reported Last week, Mozilla President Mark Surman said he was building “an alliance of revolutionaries” made up of tech startups, developers and public interest technologists committed to making AI more reliable and checking the power of players like OpenAI and Anthropic.
Mozilla will deploy reserves worth about $1.4 billion to support tech businesses and nonprofits, including its own, CNBC reports. The firm seeks investments that promote AI transparency and push back against companies growing at historic speeds with limited oversight.
