4d ago

Firefox dev clarifies that AI features will be 'opt-in' and there will be a 'killswitch' to disable them

84 comments

“Changes course after backlash” != “clarifies”.
- 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.
  
  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.
  
  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.
- 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.
- ~~Changes course~~ swerves erratically before continuing in the same general direction.
- They already said as much two or three months ago, but sure, believe that everybody is out to get you via forced AI.

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
- 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.
- 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
- 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?
  
  Not sure if it counts but chatbot support in the sidebar has existed for quite some time now.
  
  The tab grouping has an ai thing that suggests groups for you I think

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
  undefined
  
  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
  
  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.
  
  This is 12 switches
  
  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.
  
  Or you could just use Librewolf
  FF build with adblock built in and AI/spyware ripped out
  https://librewolf.net/
  
  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

"You won this round. But we'll try again tomorrow!"
- They already said as much two or three months ago...

Thank god we have a photo of the firefox logo instead of an article

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?
  
  no no no no it's on by default so it's opt-out, and switch for that isn't even implemented yet
  
  "people first"
  puts AI in

This is good enough for me. This means the Firefox code base will not get so integrated with AI features that forkers cannot remove them, and that was my primary concern.

Get a new CEO and get back to us

The best killswitch is called Librewolf. Another good one is Waferfox.
- Anyone know why LibreWolf isn't in the default Debian repositories? I trust Debian - I'm not going to add a repository to get LibreWolf.
  Until it's available from a default Debian repo, I'll keep going thru my list of all the garbage I have to go switch off in Settings and about:config every time I install Firefox for someone.
- I just installed librewolf yesterday. Pretty cool, except for the no dark mode thing.
- I switched to Waterfox immediately after they released the first news. Having to disable the AI stuff in about:config was already annoying enough, so I have no trust in whatever they claim anymore.

Opt-in you say? How about RMB click with AI chatbot that you can disable by clicking "Disable AI bot" there? Wasn't opt-in first. And, how is that in aboug:config .ml. list contains tons of entries set to True, rather than False? How in the fuck is it opt-in? It has been opt-out and in order to opt-out most of it, you would need an intermediate/advanced user. There was no toggle switch on a sidebar for normies to see and click. I call BS on this statement.

Firefox has actually become less stable for me, which is crazy because it was stable for several years.
It had gotten bloated and unstable when Chrome first came out, too.
Why does Mozilla always trend toward mediocrity?
- The enshitification of Firefox may slow at times, but it's been consistently getting worse since Firefox 2.0 over 2 decades ago.
  I wonder if it's google telling Mozilla what to do, to keep getting their money.

not sure this is enough for me. Its too late and too large a faux pas to recover from. In my opinion.
- For me it's really not. If you don't need to opt out and are proud of your killswitch, just don't put it there for normal people.

Yawn. People have been saying "Screw MozIlla, I'm switching browsers now!"
Nothing new. Just disable the feature like you do with telemetry lol.
- I disabled telemetry by switching browsers tho
  
  You cannot do that in chrome.
  
  Yep, faster and easier than spending an hour configuring Firefox every time reinstalling it on a new OS install.

good.

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/

Too late, I switched

For now.

Lol, lmao. Still deleting firefox, get fucked. Mozilla betrayed its users trust by choosing to follow this slop trend, and they'll suffer the consequences.
- & you'll suffer the consequences of monopoly. Wait it out until LadyBird & Servo gets fully tested out
  
  Why should I wait it out with a company that's betrayed the userbase's trust when it comes to not only privacy, but by also implementing a feature that everyone KNOWS is harmful to both the planet and society as a whole.
  I've already moved browsers to one that respects its users enough to not push something that's a quick cashgrab while it burns the planet and harvests our data.
- So you'll just not visit websites at all anymore?
  
  The rms approach looks better and better.
  
  Yep, never using the internet again. Firefox is the only platform available to browse the internet, and since they're sloppifying themselves I'm leaving the whole internet.

They really should have come out with a local llm poduct seperate from firefox that is compatible with using it out of box.

Oh great, another item to waste my time checking when installing Firefox... Already takes near an hour to configure Firefox each time... Now have to watch out for the day they let the rest of that AI camel in the tent.
Installs LibreWolf, stays sane
- i don't distrohop so my betterfox user.js is serving me well.