Mozilla Adds Option to Disable New AI Features Coming to Firefox Browser

Source Domain: www.cnet.com

Mozilla Firefox is adding new AI features this month, but users will have the option to turn them off, according to a Tuesday blog post from Firefox head Ajit Varma.

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

Mozilla announced in a blog post from Varma in November that it planned to expand AI features for Firefox. This includes an AI chatbot sidebar and AI-powered summaries. But in this new post, Varma said many people wanted nothing to do with AI, so Mozilla will include a button to turn off AI in the latest update.

A Mozilla spokesperson told CNET that Firefox is making its AI features optional, transparent and easy to control or turn off entirely. “The goal is always for a better browsing experience, one that keeps people in control of how they experience the web and now AI, as it becomes more common across the web,” the spokesperson said via email.

Artificial intelligence permeates the internet nowadays, and the new version of the Firefox browser with AI features joins other leading browsers that have decided to integrate AI. Apple’s Safari and Microsoft’s Edge both have AI features available to people.

Firefox embraces AI

With around 200 million active monthly users, Firefox, which is run by the Mozilla Foundation, is by far the largest nonprofit-backed internet browser. When the updated version of Firefox rolls out this month, people will find a new menu in the settings with toggles for each AI feature, allowing them to turn on and off any or all AI options.

This new Firefox will include AI in regular internet browsing in several ways. The toggles for users that Varma mentions in his post can turn off AI for language translation, PDF alt text, tab grouping suggestions, link preview summaries, and the sidebar chatbot, which also allows people to select a specific chatbot, such as ChatGPT, Microsoft…

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