Mozilla adds option to disable new AI features available in Firefox browser

Mozilla Firefox is adding new AI features this month, but you’ll have the option to turn them off, according to a blog post published Tuesday by Firefox lead Ajit Varma.

“AI is changing the web and people want very different things from it,” Varma wrote in his post. “Listening to our community, alongside our ongoing commitment to providing choice, led us to create AI Controls.”

Varma said in a November blog post that Mozilla plans to expand AI features for Firefox. This includes a AI chatbot sidebar and AI-powered summaries. But in this new post, Varma said that many people want nothing to do with AI, which is why Mozilla will include a button to disable AI in the latest update.

A Mozilla spokesperson told CNET that Firefox makes its AI features optional, transparent, and easy to control or disable altogether. “The goal is always to provide a better browsing experience, one that puts users in control of their experience of the web and now AI, as it becomes more common on the web,” the spokesperson said by email.

The new version of Firefox, 148, will be available on desktops on February 24. The Mozilla spokesperson clarified that the new version will only be available on desktop, saying “we are focused on getting a good experience before rolling it out further. We are closely monitoring early feedback and using those learnings to inform what’s next.”

Artificial intelligence is permeating the internet these days, and the new version of the Firefox browser with AI features joins other major browsers that have decided to incorporate AI. Both Apple’s Safari and Microsoft’s Edge offer AI capabilities.

Firefox adopts AI

With approximately 200 million active monthly users, Firefox, operated by the Mozilla Foundation, is by far the largest nonprofit Internet browser. When the updated version of Firefox rolls out this month, users will find a new menu in Settings with toggles for each AI feature, allowing them to turn one or all AI options on and off.

Erik Avakian, technical advisor at Info-Tech Research Group and former chief information security officer for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, says Mozilla’s decision to add AI controls indicates it understands how much AI changes Firefox from a privacy and trust perspective.

“This confirms that AI browser features, even assistive ones, can introduce real privacy, security and compliance considerations,” Avakian says. “The difference is that Mozilla chooses to introduce and implement these types of controls early on, while others force the conversation by moving quickly with AI and breaking trust.”

This new Firefox will include AI in regular Internet browsing in several ways. The user buttons mentioned by Varma in his post can disable AI for language translation, PDF alt text, tab grouping suggestions, link preview summaries, and the sidebar chatbot, which also allows users to select a specific chatbot, such as ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot Or Google Gemini.

In a blog post published in July, Jolie Huang, Mozilla AI product manager, outlined Firefox’s stance on AI and emphasized its focus on privacy. Huang discussed AI features coming to Firefox and also wrote about privacy, a long-standing key feature of the browser.

“Our ongoing commitment to privacy-friendly AI drives us to continually develop and improve features that respect and protect your personal information,” Huang wrote. “At Firefox, AI is about creating a smarter, more intuitive browsing experience that improves productivity without sacrificing privacy.”

You can test AI features from the start using Firefox Nightly, the in-development version of Firefox that is less stable and updated daily.

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