Mozilla has announced its new CEO, Anthony Enzor-DeMeo, and has today confirmed that under his leadership, Firefox will evolve into an AI browser over the next three years. The good news? Mozilla understands that AI should be a choice, and will allow users to turn it off.
"Every product we build must give people agency in how it works. Privacy, data use, and AI must be clear and understandable," says Enzor-Demeo. "Controls must be simple. AI should always be a choice — something people can easily turn off ... 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."
Even with the confirmation that AI features will be optional, the internet is not pleased. Users online have expressed their disappointment in Mozilla focusing on AI features and capabilities. One post on X says"This is a good example of how management doesn't understand its own user base," which has amassed over 380K views so far.
Another post says"I've never seen a company so astoundingly out of touch with the people who want to use its software," highlithing how a lot of people choose to use Firefox to get away from the AI obsession that other browsers such as Edge, Chrome, Opera, and Brave have endured over the last year.
In fact, it seems the large majority of posts on social media are echoing this same sentiment. People aren't happy with Mozilla's direction of pushing into AI, and would rather the company focus its resources on building other things instead.
"Please don't turn Firefox into an AI browser. That's a great way to push us to alternatives," another user says as a direct response to Mozilla's announcement.
Mozilla is not the first company to come under fire for announcing an investment in AI features and capabilities in recent months. Microsoft recently came under the same fire for announcing that Windows would evolve into an agentic OS, which sparked major backlash and forced the current Windows president to address the fallout and promise to focus on other areas in addition to AI.
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It seems Mozilla is aware of that fallout, which is why it was sure to mention upfront that any AI features it intends to add to Firefox will be optional. The problem is users don't think these companies should be building AI feature at all, which is why so many are disappointed in today's announcement from Mozilla.
With Mozilla also jumping on the AI bandwagon, users looking for an AI-free browser are going to have to look at more niche alternatives.
Zac Bowden is a Senior Editor at Windows Central and has been with the site since 2016. Bringing you exclusive coverage into the world of Windows, Surface, and hardware. He's also an avid collector of rare Microsoft prototype devices! Keep in touch on Twitter and Threads
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