PCWorld reports that Mozilla Firefox is introducing comprehensive AI Controls in its browser, allowing users to completely disable or selectively manage AI features. This development matters as other major browsers like Chrome and Edge integrate AI extensively without easy opt-out options for users. The feature debuts in Firefox Nightly builds and will reach most users within two months, with settings persisting through updates. Mozilla Firefox has always seemed like the "cool kid" browser option, for the power users who don't want to deal with Google or Microsoft. So perhaps filling it up with "AI" features -- you know, the things people are kind of tired of seeing from Google and Apple -- might not be winning people over.

Like practically every other tech company under the sun, Mozilla has been jamming generative AI features into its products . The organization has now acknowledged that not everyone wants things like chatbots in the Firefox sidebar, so it's giving you the option to turn off all of that. On February 24 (or earlier in Firefox Nightly builds), Mozilla will roll out Firefox 148, which will include an AI controls section in the desktop browser settings. From here, you'll be able to block current and future generative AI features, or only enable select tools. At the jump, you'll have the option to disable (or enable) chatbots in the sidebar, automated translations and alt text generation for PDFs.

PCWorld reports that Mozilla's new CEO Anthony Enzor-DeMeo plans to integrate AI features into Firefox while maintaining user choice to disable them. This strategic shift addresses Firefox's stagnant market share and aims to compete with AI-centric browsers without compromising privacy principles. The optional AI implementation reflects Mozilla's commitment to transparency and user control in an increasingly competitive browser landscape. Mozilla recently confirmed that it's shifting gears and bringing AI features to its Firefox browser. However, according to the newly appointed CEO Anthony Enzor-DeMeo, the AI features will always be optional and possible to switch off completely.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Mozilla is building'AI windows' in Firefox and giving full control to you Mozilla is taking its time to get AI right, while its rivals rush towards the (continually moving) finish line. In February, Mozilla Firefox revealed that the company was adding third-party AI to its browser. This week, the company further revealed that it's doing so via "AI windows" for ChatGPT and other services. Back in its original announcement, Mozilla said it was actually deploying third-party AI services to a small portion of its user base.

Google will have to break up its business, the Justice Department said in a filing, upholding the previous administration's proposal after a federal judge ruled last year that the company illegally abused a monopoly over the search industry. As The Washington Post and The New York Times have reported, the Justice Department reiterated in a new filing that Google will have to sell the Chrome browser. When the DOJ argued for its sale last year, it said that selling Chrome "will permanently stop Google's control of this critical search access point and allow rival search engines the ability to access the browser that for many users is a gateway to the internet." The Justice Department also kept a Biden-era proposal that seeks to ban Google from paying companies like Apple, other smartphone manufacturers and Mozilla to make its search engine the default on their phones and browsers. It did remove a previous proposal that would compel Google to sell its stakes in AI startups, however, after Anthropic told the government that it needs the company's money to continue operating. Instead of banning AI investments altogether, the government wants to require the company to notify federal and state officials before making investments in artificial intelligence.

The data set Common Voice has created over the past seven years is one of the most useful resources for people wanting to build voice AI. It has seen a massive spike in downloads, partly thanks to the current AI boom; it recently hit the 5 million mark, up from 38,500 in 2020. Creating this data set has not been easy, mainly because the data collection relies on an army of volunteers. Their numbers have also jumped, from just under 500,000 in 2020 to over 900,000 in 2024. But by giving its data away, some members of this community argue, Mozilla is encouraging volunteers to effectively do free labor for Big Tech.

Like other browser makers, Mozilla is looking to bring more AI features into Firefox. The organization's latest effort is an experimental one for the Nightly build of the browser. Starting this week, you'll be able to add ChatGPT, Google Gemini, HuggingChat or Le Chat Mistral to the sidebar. Highlight some text on the web and you can right click to ask your preferred chatbot to summarize the information, simplify the language or test your memory and knowledge of the excerpt. Mozilla says any chatbot use is entirely optional and none of them are integrated into Firefox's core functions.

Call it a bug zapper, not a feature. Data from Fakespot, a service owned by Mozilla that helps consumers spot fake reviews and scams on shopping sites, shows a bizarre rise in the number of listings for bug zappers on Amazon over the past three years. At the same time, Fakespot has logged an increase in the number of negative or unreliable reviews for this product category. Saoud Khalifah, founder and director of Fakespot at Mozilla, says bug zappers are just one example of the convergence of recent trends in ecommerce: a growing number of listings from third-party sellers on Amazon.com, "Right now everyone has a different kind of determination of what'fake' means," Khalifah says. "In the book category, for example, you might see an author ask their friends and family to leave reviews and some people might see that as disingenuous.

You shouldn't trust any answers a chatbot sends you. An analysis into 11 so-called romance and companion chatbots, published on Wednesday by the Mozilla Foundation, has found a litany of security and privacy concerns with the bots. Collectively, the apps, which have been downloaded more than 100 million times on Android devices, gather huge amounts of people's data; use trackers that send information to Google, Facebook, and companies in Russia and China; allow users to use weak passwords; and lack transparency about their ownership and the AI models that power them. Since OpenAI unleashed ChatGPT on the world in November 2022, developers have raced to deploy large language models and create chatbots that people can interact with and pay to subscribe to. The Mozilla research provides a glimpse into how this gold rush may have neglected people's privacy, and into tensions between emerging technologies and how they gather and use data. It also indicates how people's chat messages could be abused by hackers.

Mozilla is the latest in a long line of tech companies to lay off employees this year. The not-for-profit company is firing around 60 people, which equates to roughly five percent of its workforce. Most of those who are leaving Mozilla worked on the product development team. The news was first reported by Bloomberg. "We're scaling back investment in some product areas in order to focus on areas that we feel have the greatest chance of success," a Mozilla spokesperson told Engadget in a statement.