Technologynot sure this is enough for me. Its too late and too large a faux pas to recover from. In my opinion.
“Changes course after backlash” != “clarifies”.
Maybe but I although critical of some recent firefox actions think its possible given the og statement it is a clarification from a somewhat vague statement that was taken in the worst possible way by some and posted again and again often by people not even reading beyond the headline.
I dunno that seems very compatible with the following that was said in the CEO statement.
AI should always be a choice — something people can easily turn off.
Also here is a link to the posts https://mastodon.social/@firefoxwebdevs/115740500373677782
Also, the dev says the following and I think they have a point.
I'm not asking for faith in our direction - the thing I love about the Firefox community is how open, honest, and technical it is.
But I do ask that you don't have the opposite of faith. Like, try not to be determined that we're going to do the wrong thing here.
Something easily turned off is distinctly not opt in. They're still lying to everyone.
Earlier today I found a fucking AI feature automatically turned on... Those idiots need to get their shit straight and fast if they want to remain relevant.
try not to be determined that we're going to do the wrong thing here.
There's a lot Mozilla has done right, but there's a lot they haven't done right as well. These days, the cynical view has proven itself to be more reliable in general, so it's hard not to apply it here as well.
That being said, FF has supported AI chatbots for a while and I haven't seen it come up once in my browser beyond when they said "this is a thing now". But this has also been a good opportunity to explore alternatives, so I'm trying out Zen now (ff-based still).
“Can easily turn off” implies that it ships to you on.
Honestly, asking us to assume that every action comes from a place of good will just makes me doubt them even more. You earn that kind of trust, you don’t ask for it; and if they don’t have it they should be asking hard questions about why.
They are a company that used to be about independent choice but are effectively reliant on Google (a privacy nightmare) to be solvent, and they’re now putting their bets into being “a modern AI browser”. Nothing about that tells me I should just trust them.
They already said as much two or three months ago, but sure, believe that everybody is out to get you via forced AI.
Yeah. I'm still pissed off dev hours get wasted on this shit instead of, idk, HDR support? Surround sound audio?
They say a switch will be built in. There is no switch yet. Which means the deluge of little popups about AI tab grouping and the "look at Perplexity" messages are not going away until these changes are actually released.
the killswitch is in about:config
browser.ml.enable
browser.ml.chat.enabled
browser.ml.chat.menu
browser.ml.chat.page
browser.ml.chat.page.footerBadge
browser.ml.chat.page.menuBadge
browser.ml.linkPreview.enabled
browser.ml.pageAssist.enabled
browser.tabs.groups.smart.enabled
browser.tabs.groups.smart.userEnabled
extensions.ml.enabled
browser.search.visualSearch.featureGate
This is 12 switches
That's... Not really a switch. If somebody has to go to a secret place, get past a warning sign, and type in a half dozen secret commands... it sounds more like an espionage movie than the flipping of a switch.
And people have already complained that some of those flags don't affect newer ones, which Mozilla keeps adding. We might as well say Microsoft has a setting to turn off telemetry, never mind it's also hidden and it also keeps getting switched back on.
the killswitch is in
about:config
Ah yes, the easiest place to put a kill switch for the average user, as opposed to the complexity of a toggle in settings.
People on Lemmy will hate to hear this but the average user wants AI integrations.
That's the main problem Firefox has. They are trying to appeal to a wide audience but their core users would never let them do anything that might do that. Then the core users sit there and wonder why Mozilla struggles and demand they work exclusively on the browser, an endeavor well known to not be profitable.
The average user doesn't give a shit about privacy either as evidenced by the state of the current Internet.
First, citation needed on these people who want AI. People on LinkedIn will hate to hear this, but I don't think the average user does.
Second, I don't understand your point. Do you actually believe the average user would feel compelled to switch to Firefox? Why? Instead, Mozilla is taking aim at their current users.
The average user uses llms like a search engine because search sucks rn
It sucks specifically because the megacorps want to make the AI look better than it is and because they want to keep people on search results pages...
The shittyness is a feature to these vultures.
The average user doesn't give a shit about privacy either as evidenced by the state of the current Internet.
Indeed but 0% of them are using Firefox. That battles been lost
they have said they will make an option that is not in about:config
https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/discussions/building-ai-the-firefox-way-shaping-what-s-next-together/m-p/110176/highlight/true#M42473
Well they should have done this when the first ai feature was introduced. Bit late now.
Or you could just use Librewolf
FF build with adblock built in and AI/spyware ripped out
https://librewolf.net/
Is the killswitch in settings? Because I had to set browser.ml.enable to false in about:config since there was nothing related to it in settings
They have said they will make one outside of about:config.
https://connect.mozilla.org/t5/discussions/building-ai-the-firefox-way-shaping-what-s-next-together/m-p/110176/highlight/true#M42473
Yeah, that’d be like the web browser equivalent of going into the Windows registry editor and changing a value in there. Like, it’s there, but unless you already know what you’re looking for, it’s not really an option.
Is anything related to AI even in yet? Or is it that they just placed the flag in there for future use, but no features are in?
The tab grouping has an ai thing that suggests groups for you I think
and the right click summarize is in.
Not sure if it counts but chatbot support in the sidebar has existed for quite some time now.
then make it an extension.
the fact that they're entertaining ai at all is antithesis to mozilla's mission of an open and environmentally friendly web free from profit.
Hmm no
Our mission is to ensure the Internet is a global public resource, open and accessible to all. An Internet that truly puts people first, where individuals can shape their own experience and are empowered, safe and independent.
Thats the first paragraph from their mission statement here https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/mission/
Doesn't say anything about environmentally friendly. Also I think this part "where individuals can shape their own experience and are empowered, safe and independent.", and their stance on AI in their browser and it being opt in make sense. Some people want to use it. Let them have a safe and private way to use it. Maybe Mozilla can show how a privacy respecting AI experience can be. Wouldn't that still be a net good?
"people first"
puts AI in
no no no no it's on by default so it's opt-out, and switch for that isn't even implemented yet
I agree they should have put the switch first but also dev is messy. At least you can about:config it. And even then your data isn't being sold out to anyone unless you use it.
"You won this round. But we'll try again tomorrow!"
Get a new CEO and get back to us
They really should have come out with a local llm poduct seperate from firefox that is compatible with using it out of box.
Link to the article as it doesn't show up on Lemmy: https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2025/12/firefox-dev-clarifies-there-will-be-an-ai-kill-switch/
good.
Too late, I switched
For now.
I guess we'll see what people here find to complain about now.
