Firefox is adding a switch to turn AI features off

Unlike many of the companies stuffing AI into their browsers, Mozilla will soon give you a way to turn all of these features off. An update coming on February 24th will add a new “AI control” option to Firefox’s settings menu, allowing you to disable or enable the browser’s individual AI features, including access to a built-in AI chatbot, translations, AI tab group suggestions, and more. Over the past year, Firefox joined Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome in doubling down on AI, with the company rolling out a new “shake to summarize” feature that iPhone users can use to get an AI-powered summary of what they’re reading online. Firefox is working on an “AI Window” as well, an opt-in browsing experience that uses an AI assistant and chatbot to help users search the web. Mozilla CEO Anthony Enzor-DeMeo told The Verge last year that he believes there’s space for another AI browser from a “technology company that people can trust.” [Media: https://youtu.be/iD4LspntEmI?si=-dgIVm5pmlwaRoJV] In December, Enzor-DeMeo promised an AI “kill switch” in response to users unhappy with Firefox’s embrace of AI. “Choice matters and demonstrating our commitment to choice is how we build and maintain trust,” Enzor-DeMeo wrote at the time. That switch is on the way now, and it includes an option to disable all current and upcoming AI features. You can also manage whether Firefox uses AI to generate alt text for images in PDFs or to generate key points in link previews. “AI is changing the web, and people want very different things from it,” Ajit Varma, Firefox’s vice president of product, writes in the announcement. “We’ve heard from many who want nothing to do with AI. We’ve also heard from others who want AI tools that are genuinely useful. Listening to our community, alongside our ongoing commitment to offer choice, led us to build AI controls.”