Just like Google plan with Chrome, Mozilla aren't sitting still on expanding Firefox into something resembling a web browser but with more AI.
As announced today on the Mozilla blog, they've got a new CEO with Anthony Enzor-DeMeo. Here's a short but important excerpt on the future of Firefox from the post (emphasis ours):
As Mozilla moves forward, we will focus on becoming the trusted software company. This is not a slogan. It is a direction that guides how we build and how we grow. It means three things.
- First: Every product we build must give people agency in how it works. Privacy, data use, and AI must be clear and understandable. Controls must be simple. AI should always be a choice — something people can easily turn off. People should know why a feature works the way it does and what value they get from it.
- Second: our business model must align with trust. We will grow through transparent monetization that people recognize and value.
- Third: Firefox will grow from a browser into a broader ecosystem of trusted software. Firefox will remain our anchor. It will evolve into a modern AI browser and support a portfolio of new and trusted software additions.
You should read the full post to form your own opinion on it, but regular readers will know my thoughts on AI quite well by now. Companies everywhere are scrambling to force AI into where it isn't needed, or wanted, and all it ends up doing is causing the complete enshittification of whatever it is.
If they really wanted to give us privacy and agency in how we use it, they would give us a very simple opt-out for all AI features. But like other companies and organisations - they won't, because they need to force people into it to make numbers go up. They say we should be able to easily turn it off, but I'll believe that when I see it as a clear option to disable it all.
Some have recommended I use Vivaldi, but it is both Chromium-based and proprietary; so I prefer not to.
Quoting: ChrisznixNow that i came to love it - can anyone forecast what this would mean for a fork like librewolf?Firefox is still open-source, so I see no reason why Librewolf would be unable to remove AI, just like they removed telemetry, or Firefox sync. And I suppose they will.
They surely would take that out, will they? Can they?
Last edited by junibegood on 16 Dec 2025 at 8:47 pm UTC
Quoting: ChrisznixNow that i came to love it - can anyone forecast what this would mean for a fork like librewolf?Yes: https://chaos.social/@librewolf/115716906957137196
They surely would take that out, will they? Can they?
YU WILL UZ ZE AI AN YU VILL ZIKE ITZ
Quoting: toru9999about:configJust checked, this is the default in Librewolf. I switched to it a few months ago, and it was relatively painless.
browser.ml.enable -> false
problem solved
I've also got Pale Moon, dillo, and NetSurf installed. The last two are really no more useful than lynx, but work well with older websites that don't use javascript/html5.
Pale Moon I keep around for their forks of 3.X (multi-threaded, choose my-own-blasted-destination-directory) downthemall and flashgot (no modern Firefox equivalent, as even VideoDownloadHelper just discontinued their companion app). My old browsing flow made heavy use of both, before WebExtensions ruined that. The forums aren't very welcoming, but the browser works "fine".
Chromium I only use for gmail and shopping. Manifest V3 should burn.
And all I can say is Why...AI? While letting out a big Sigh, because again it's about AI.
So now I have something else to Try because of this freaking AI.
When will the time come when this all reveals as a big Lie?
Please let this AI be blown out of the sky.
So I can get cheap memory again from Best Buy.
The end.
Not made with AI.
But it will probably be ripped by it.
😭
AI should always be a choiceWho cares as long as it's optional, really?
Quoting: KimyrielleDid anyone read that before reaching for the pitchforks?The people who understand that mozilla likes to bury such "choices" under dark patterns and/or hard to find, undocumented, settings.
AI should always be a choiceWho cares as long as it's optional, really?
Quoting: snowI installed Librefow a few months ago in my main pcLibrefowl is a much better name than Librewolf ngl
Last edited by pb on 16 Dec 2025 at 10:55 pm UTC
What a time to be alive...
Quoting: emphyCan always ask the AI how to turn it off. :pQuoting: KimyrielleDid anyone read that before reaching for the pitchforks?The people who understand that mozilla likes to bury such "choices" under dark patterns and/or hard to find, undocumented, settings.
AI should always be a choiceWho cares as long as it's optional, really?
Also, maybe it's just me, but as a person used to Android smartphones and the scavenger hunts it usually takes to find settings Google doesn't want you to change, I don't find Mozilla's dark patters particularly dark. I guess everything is relative.




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