Firefox introduces AI controls to block generative features as Mozilla responds to user concerns

Firefox will soon let you block all of its generative AI features | TechCrunch

Firefox will begin catering to those who don't want AI in their browser. On Monday, Mozilla announced that Firefox will soon let users block all current and future generative AI features. Users will also have the option to block certain AI features in Firefox, while keeping others. Starting with Firefox 148, which is rolling out on February 24, users will find a new AI controls section within the desktop browser settings. People who don't want access to any AI features from Firefox can turn on the "Block AI enhancements" toggle. When this setting is turned on, they won't see pop-ups or reminders to use existing or upcoming AI features. The new AI controls will also let users manage AI features individually. These features include "Translations," which allows you to browse the web in your preferred language, Alt text in PDFs, AI-enhanced tab grouping, link previews, and Firefox's AI chatbot in the sidebar, which lets you use your chosen chatbot as you browse, including services like Anthropic Claude, ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini, and Le Chat Mistral. "AI is changing the web, and people want very different things from it," the company wrote in a blog post. "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." The announcement comes as Mozilla appointed Anthony Enzor-DeMeo as its CEO back in December. Enzor-DeMeo said at the time that Mozilla would be investing in AI and would add AI features to Firefox, but that the company would make these features optional. "AI should always be a choice -- something people can easily turn off. People should know why a feature works the way it does and what value they get from it," he wrote in a blog post. Enzor-DeMeo's comments come as Mozilla scrambles to adapt in a rapidly changing browser market. Although browsers like Firefox and Google Chrome dominated the browser space for more than a decade, they are facing renewed competition from companies such as Perplexity, Arc, OpenAI, and Opera. While Mozilla plans to invest in new AI features, it's also focused on transparency. CNBC reported last week that Mozilla President Mark Surman said he's building "a rebel alliance of sorts" made up of tech startups, developers, and public-interest technologists committed to making AI more trustworthy and to checking the power of players like OpenAI and Anthropic. Mozilla will deploy around $1.4 billion worth of reserves to support tech businesses and nonprofits, including its own, CNBC reports. The company is pursuing investments that promote AI transparency and push back against companies growing at historic speeds with limited oversight.

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."

Mozilla Shows Off AI Browser Kill Switch for Firefox

Mozilla is offering a first look at its AI browser kill switch. These "AI controls" will launch in Firefox version 148, which is slated to roll out on Feb. 24, Mozilla said today. The controls basically function as on-off toggles and will be available through the desktop browser settings. The most powerful option is "Block AI Enhancements," which will shut down current and future AI-powered features, as well as pop-ups about them. If the nuclear option is too much, Mozilla says you can "cherry-pick" the AI features you want to use. The individual features include the AI chatbot in the sidebar, key points in link previews, AI-enhanced tab grouping, and translations. Features can also be turned back on at any time. The company is previewing the kill switch after Mozilla's new CEO, Anthony Enzor-DeMeo, faced backlash in December over plans to evolve Firefox into a "modern AI browser." Despite the tech industry's focus on generative AI, some consumers remain resistant, citing concerns over software bloat, AI-induced errors, and the usefulness of such features. In response, Enzor-DeMeo said his company was serious about creating a kill switch to appeal to users weary of AI-focused products. "Rest assured, Firefox will always remain a browser built around user control," he told users on Reddit. Still, an official developer account for Firefox previously indicated that all AI features would be opt-in. The AI controls that debuted on Monday suggest all users will be automatically enrolled, requiring them to manually opt out. We've reached out to Mozilla for more information and will update the story if we hear back. In the meantime, the company's blog post adds: "We believe choice is more important than ever as AI becomes a part of people's browsing experiences. What matters to us is giving people control, no matter how they feel about AI."

Mozilla announces switch to disable all Firefox AI features

In response to user feedback on AI integration, Mozilla announced today that the next Firefox release will let users disable AI features entirely or manage them individually. The new "Block AI enhancements" toggle will be available in Firefox 148 on February 24 and will help block current and future generative AI features in the desktop browser from a single location. Users will also have the option to enable specific AI tools while keeping others disabled. "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," said Firefox head Ajit Varma. "Starting with Firefox 148, which rolls out on Feb. 24, you'll find a new AI controls section within the desktop browser settings. It provides a single place to block current and future generative AI features in Firefox." Firefox users who prefer to block AI entirely can enable the "Block AI enhancements" toggle, which also prevents pop-ups or reminders about existing or upcoming AI features. Once configured, the AI preferences will persist across browser updates and can be changed at any time. The new AI controls panel will also enable users to manage five AI-powered features individually: browser translations, alt text generation for images in PDFs, AI-enhanced tab grouping with suggested names, link previews showing key points, and sidebar access to chatbots (including Anthropic Claude, ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini, and Le Chat Mistral). The feature will first roll out to Firefox Nightly users, the browser's experimental release channel, before reaching all desktop users later this month. Varma has also encouraged early adopters to provide feedback through Mozilla Connect, Mozilla's dedicated user feedback and discussions platform. Today's announcement comes after Anthony Enzor-DeMeo, Mozilla Corporation's new CEO, said on December 16 that Firefox users would always be able to turn off the web browser's AI features. "Every product we build must give people agency in how it works. Privacy, data use, and AI must be clear and understandable," Enzor-DeMeo said. "Controls must be simple. AI should always be a choice -- something people can easily turn off. People should know why a feature works the way it does and what value they get from it." A Mozilla spokesperson was not immediately available for comment when contacted by BleepingComputer earlier today for more details.

Firefox will soon offer a way to block all of its generative AI features

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. You'll also be able to nix a tool called AI-enhanced tab grouping (which offers suggestions of related tabs and group names), as well as webpage previews that display "key points" before you actually click on a link. If you'd prefer to get rid of all of these -- and for Firefox to not bother you with pop-ups and notifications about current and upcoming AI features -- just make sure the "Block AI enhancements" toggle is on. Perhaps Mozilla has come to realize that, rather than having AI cruft soaking up resources and causing apps to bloat, what many people actually want is a fast, secure and streamlined web browser. At the very least, giving users a way to opt out of features they don't want is a positive step. Now then, Google, about AI Overviews...

Mozilla Adding 'Off' Switch to AI in Firefox

We may not have a killswitch for AI as a whole, but Mozilla is giving users the ability to shut off AI in its Firefox browser (though it could have just not included those features in the first place). In a blog post, the company announced that it will include a toggle in the next version of Firefox that will turn off AI functionality. The feature will be available in Firefox 148, set to be released on February 24. The feature will be accessible in the desktop browser settings, and will give users the ability to turn the lights out on all AI rather than granularly control which AI tools they are okay with. A toggle will be made available that, when turned on, will "block AI enhancements" that have been introduced by Mozilla, including things like AI translations, tab grouping recommendations, and in-browser AI chatbots (Firefox currently supports Anthropic's Claude, ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini, and Le Chat Mistral). Users can currently manually control which features they want to use, but the toggle will give them the ability to just shut off everythingâ€"and make any future AI addition turned off by default. "This lets you use Firefox without AI while we continue to build AI features for those who want them," the company said. The move comes just a month after Mozilla took some serious heat for embracing AI. Back in December, the company announced that former General Manager of Firefox, Anthony Enzor-DeMeo, was taking over as CEO. As part of the announcement that he was taking the reins, Enzor-DeMeo said that his plan was for Firefox to "evolve into a modern AI browser." While he acknowledged that "AI should always be a choice," the fact that the company was choosing to inject AI into its flagship browser didn't sit right with many of its diehard users. As browsers like Chrome and Brave have increasingly made AI front and center in the browsing experience, and companies like OpenAI have tried to weasel their way into the browser wars with their own AI browser projects, Firefox has mostly stuck to its guns as a privacy-focused, stripped-down browser that runs smoothly and supports a fair amount of customization. Enzor-DeMeo's announcement that AI would become central to Firefox's future suggested the company was going to move away from its primary calling cards. This new toggle seems to be an attempt to mitigate those concerns. Unfortunately, even if users can opt out of these features, there doesn't appear to be any way to stop every company from going all in on AI.

Firefox is giving users the AI tool they really want: A kill switch

The update rolls out on February 24, with early access available now in Firefox Nightly. Some people get excited whenever a company introduces its users to new AI tools, but a growing contingent has only one question: how do I turn this off? With its next desktop update, Firefox is finally offering a clear answer. According to a post on the Mozilla blog, Firefox 148 will add a new AI controls section to the browser's settings when it rolls out on February 24. This gives you a single place to manage Firefox's generative AI features, including a master toggle that blocks both current and future AI tools altogether. At launch, those controls include automatic translation, AI-generated alt text in PDFs, AI-assisted tab grouping, link previews that summarize pages before you open them, and the AI chatbot in the sidebar. Turning on Block AI enhancements does more than disable these features -- it also prevents Firefox from prompting you about future AI additions. Mozilla says your preferences will persist across updates, and you can change them at any time. The new controls will appear first in Firefox Nightly builds before reaching the stable release later this month. Firefox obviously isn't backing away from AI entirely, but it is an acknowledgment that the tech is already grating on some users.

Firefox Will Soon Let You Disable All Current (and Future) AI Features

The new "Block AI enhancements" toggle will disable all current and future AI features in the browser. Since ChatGPT kicked off the generative AI revolution in 2022, it seems like every company under the sun has tried to stuff AI features into their products in one way or another. Sometimes, these features can be useful; often, they're not, only serving as proof these companies are "keeping up with the times." Can you even say you're a tech company if you aren't all-in on AI in 2026? There's nothing wrong with companies offering AI features to users, so long as they also offer easy ways to disable them. Some customers don't want AI in their day-to-day products, but, anecdotally, I know many do not. Give us an off switch though, and it's all good. The issue is when these features are not only offered, they're made mandatory. Unfortunately, that's the road many companies seem to be taking. Perhaps that's where some of the frustration originated last year, when Mozilla's new CEO Anthony Enzor-Demeo first announced that Firefox would "evolve into a modern AI browser" in the near future. An open letter, written by a Redditor critical of Enzor-Demeo's statement, received over 5,000 upvotes on the Firefox subreddit from users concerned that AI features would negatively impact the browser. Interestingly, Enzor-Demeo responded to the thread himself, and assured users that the company would offer "a clear way" to disable AI features, including a dedicated kill switch to keep them all turned off. It seems he was as good as his word. On Monday, Mozilla announced that new AI controls are coming to Firefox, starting with Firefox 148. This version, which drops Feb. 24, sports a brand-new AI controls section in the settings panel on the desktop browser. (You'll find it in the between "Sync" and "AI controls.") From here, you'll be able to block all current and future AI features, and cherry pick which features you want to use -- if any. Firefox 148 launches with these five AI features, which you can choose to enable to disable: If you want absolutely nothing to do with AI when browsing the web with Firefox, you can use the "Block AI enhancements" toggle. Once activated, not only will these features not appear, but Firefox will block any pop-ups or alerts pushing you to try existing or future AI features. Any Firefox users who aren't keen on AI features will want to check out this new controls menu starting Feb. 24 -- though there are certainly more egregious AI features out there. Translations can be convenient, as can link previews. But I know I'd never want a chatbot in the sidebar of my browser. If I used Firefox as my main browser, I would definitely disable at least that feature, if not all of them.