Mozilla Introduces AI Window for Firefox Amid User Backlash

Mozilla announces an AI 'window' for Firefox

Another day, another AI browser. This time, it's Firefox, the self-described "independent browser" from Mozilla. Firefox says it is building an AI browsing feature called AI Window that includes an AI assistant and chatbot. The company calls it an opt-in "intelligent and user-controlled space" that is currently being built "in the open" with user input. In September, the company launched a "shake to summarize" feature in Firefox that uses AI to generate summaries of webpages that are open on your iPhone. Mozilla positions itself as the respectful browsing company that gives users the option to use as much AI as they want. "While others are building AI experiences that keep you locked in a conversational loop, we see a different path -- one where AI serves as a trusted companion, enhancing your browsing experience and guiding you outward to the broader web," Mozilla wrote on its company blog. AI Window will be one of three browsing experiences offered to Firefox users in addition to the private and classic windows. In a post to the Mozilla Connect forum on Thursday, the company wrote that users will be able to pick the AI model they want to use in AI Window, but offered few additional details. Users interested in updates about the AI Window product can join Mozilla's waitlist.

Firefox Embraces AI Search, Promises Different Approach From Rivals

Firefox is the latest browser to embrace AI, but its approach is different from many of its rivals. Firefox's solution is an in-development tool called AI Window, which will prioritize "user choice and openness," according to developer Mozilla. A built-in assistant will help you browse the web, but it can be turned off at any time. Firefox didn't provide details about which AI models will power AI Window. In June, however, it noted that Firefox "allows you to select your preferred AI chatbot provider...and switch between AI chatbots at any time." AI Window is "a new, intelligent, and user-controlled space we're building in Firefox that lets you chat with an AI assistant and get help while you browse, all on your terms. Completely opt-in, you have full control, and if you try it and find it's not for you, you can choose to switch it off." Mozilla is encouraging early adopters to sign up to try it out. As with most Firefox features, Mozilla will ask for feedback to implement changes ahead of a wider release. It refers to this as a third way to use Firefox, alongside its standard browsing experience and Private Window, which hides your history and cookies. "While others are building AI experiences that keep you locked in a conversational loop, we see a different path -- one where AI serves as a trusted companion, enhancing your browsing experience and guiding you outward to the broader web," Mozilla says. Earlier this week, Mozilla also announced new protections against online "fingerprinting," a method used by websites to create a secret digital ID that tracks your internet activity. Mozilla says its new Firefox tools have so far reduced user tracking by half.

Firefox adds AI Window, users want AI wall to keep it out

Browser maker scolds AI objectors, "The web is changing, and sitting it out doesn't help anyone" Mozilla is apparently a lot more excited about adding AI features to Firefox than its community. The org has decided that AI deserves its own new environment in the browser, a move its fans met with withering criticism. On Thursday, Ajit Varma, VP and head of product management at Firefox, announced but did not yet launch AI Window, an opt-in browsing mode that offers a third option alongside the standard browsing window and the Private Window. "It's a new, intelligent and user-controlled space we're building in Firefox that lets you chat with an AI assistant and get help while you browse, all on your terms," explained Varma. "Completely opt-in, you have full control, and if you try it and find it's not for you, you can choose to switch it off." Varma previously worked as a product manager at Meta and at Google, where product decisions tend to happen without the consent of the masses. But his evident enthusiasm for AI in the browser hasn't quelled dissent in the Firefox community. AI Window isn't even available yet - it's a placeholder where the project will be developed in the open - but the objections have already begun. "Once again Mozilla is SPRINTING to chase after the stupidest tech brained trends and not actually focused on improving the product at all," reads the first comment posted to the Mozilla Connect discussion thread from an individual not affiliated with Mozilla. The second comment inquires about a browser settings flag to disable AI Window. The third says, "The only AI related thing I want is a single, prominent, easily accessible switch to turn off absolutely all opt-out AI features. No chasing about:config entries." Other recent threads on Mozilla Connect, like "Remove AI garbage" and "Please DO NOT Add Agentic AI to Firefox," offer a snapshot of how Firefox users feel about AI. And the Mozilla Support forums for Firefox contain many posts along the lines of "Getting rid of AI" and "How do I purge AI from my browser." Were this the view of only a few, Mozilla would not need to chide its community for rejecting AI, a sentiment also voiced over GitHub's determination to have everyone use Copilot. The AI Window web page begins, "The web is changing, and sitting it out doesn't help anyone." Jolie Huang, senior staff product manager at Mozilla, echoes that point in the above-mentioned Mozilla Connect post titled, "Building AI the Firefox way: Shaping what's next together." "We recently shared how we're approaching AI in Firefox with user choice and openness at the center of everything we build," Huang wrote. "We've heard from many of you who'd prefer not to have AI in your browser at all, and we get it: We will soon provide additional settings for you to control how AI is used (or not) in Firefox. "Nonetheless, standing still while technology moves forward doesn't benefit the web or the people who use it. That's why we see it as our responsibility to shape how AI integrates into the web, in ways that promote openness, transparency, and choice. That way, users and developers can use it freely, help shape it, and truly benefit from it." Mozilla's own experience with AI hasn't been entirely beneficial. In 2023, it added an AI help bot to developer documentation service, only to disable it. There were layoffs in 2024, alongside a plan to refocus on AI. The arrival of Firefox 136 in March 2025 saw the debut of a sidebar for AI bot interaction. A few months later, reports of performance issues associated with local LLM processing surfaced, which failed to mollify user concerns about adding AI services. And earlier this month, volunteers assisting the Japanese arm of the Mozilla Support (SUMO) community resigned over concerns that the company's AI SumoBot has been editing and overwriting Japanese support articles without allowing time for human review. Beyond the cost in community goodwill, Mozilla's embrace of AI also entails labor costs: AI-related bugs have to be evaluated and fixed. Nabiha Syed, executive director of The Mozilla Foundation, told The Register in August that the internet isn't necessarily experienced in the browser and that AI is the next mediating technology. "The throughline is it's artificial to define the internet as something in a browser or something in a social web feed or AI," she explained. "They're all part of a digital experience." The digital experience for almost every browser today includes AI. Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Apple Safari, Opera Neon, and Brave have all incorporated AI services to varying degrees. And AI vendors OpenAI and Perplexity have introduced their respective Atlas and Comet browsers as distribution platforms for their services.

Mozilla will add an 'AI window' to Firefox

Mozilla is working on a new tool for Firefox called AI Window. This will be an opt-in space for chatting with an AI assistant and getting help from it while browsing. The goal with this project appears to be giving users more control over when and how they choose to interact with AI. AI Window will be another option for users alongside the standard Firefox window and the Private Window, which will continue to offer more privacy protections. The feature is still in development, so interested users can sign up in Mozilla's blog post to be among the first users and provide feedback. AI built into browsers is one of the current hot issues among tech companies. Every browser provider and AI operation appears to be engaged in an arms race to offer the best integrated solution. Mozilla isn't immune to that push; it also introduced an iOS tool for Firefox earlier this year where you can shake your phone to get an AI-generated summary of a web page.

I already hate Firefox's upcoming 'AI Window' feature

Mozilla is pushing ahead with AI features in Firefox, despite much criticism from Firefox users and the occasional technical problem. The company is now working on an 'AI Window' for Firefox as the next big integration, which it promises will be "our most intelligent and personalized experience yet." Web browsers using generative AI integration are all the rage right now, with Google, Opera, OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity, and other companies testing or releasing their own takes on the idea. Most of them have an integrated chat window for asking questions, and some ability to complete tasks by taking control of web browsing. However, they are vulnerable to prompt injection attacks, and many of the stated use cases are exaggerated or don't work correctly. Some websites and publishers are also against the technology entirely -- Amazon sent a cease-and-desist to Perplexity to stop its Comet browser from making purchases. Mozilla has also slowly added AI features to Firefox. The page translation functionality uses a local neural machine translation (NMT) model run, the sidebar has some popular AI chatbots, there's AI options in the right-click context menu, and Perplexity's AI is now a search engine option. Firefox on iPhone also now uses the shake gesture to activate page summarization, which I have personally accidentally opened many times. The browser's local model for organizing tab groups was also causing CPU spikes and battery drain for some people. The next AI upgrade for Firefox will be an 'AI Window,' which "lets you chat with an AI assistant and get help while you browse, all on your terms." It sounds like it will be a completely different mode for Firefox, with functionality more like ChatGPT Atlas or Perplexity's Comet Browser. Whenever it rolls out, you should be able to ignore it completely if you don't want it. Mozilla said in a blog post, "We see a lot of promise in AI browser features making your online experience smoother, more helpful, and free from the everyday disruptions that break your flow. But browsers made by AI companies ask you to make a hard choice -- either use AI all the time or don't use it at all. [...] Regardless of your choice, with Firefox, you're in control. You can continue using Firefox as you always have for the most customizable experience, or switch from classic to Private Window for the most private browsing experience." I'm extremely worried about any web browser that puts AI in the driver's seat, even it comes from Mozilla. This is a technology that is not fully accurate, triggers psychological breakdowns in some people, and is built upon massive libraries of stolen work. AI browsers are also generally built to skip traditional search engines and viewing ads, both of which are how most web publishers pay their bills -- you can't automate your web browsing if there's no more web left to browse. There are also many Firefox users actively protesting these AI features in Firefox, especially when they are enabled by default, like the right-click context menu and tab group organization. Mozilla says it cares about how "AI can serve the web," but the generative AI revolution is actively killing the web. The signup page for AI Window even says "The web is changing, and sitting it out doesn't help anyone," which is shockingly close to the language used by the billionaires and AI tech companies to justify adoption for their products. Firefox is trying to appease both AI skeptics and power users, and I suspect it will succeed at neither group, and just continue losing market share. There's no timeline yet for the AI Window rollout, but there is a signup page for the waitlist.

Mozilla is putting an AI window into Firefox with a privacy twist

What's happened? Mozilla is working on a new feature in Firefox called AI Window, an optional space where you can chat with an AI assistant while browsing. AI Window can summarize pages, explain what you're reading, or fetch related information. Instead of being pushed into every tab or search bar, the AI sits in its own window that you can open when needed and close when you're done. The feature builds on earlier experiments like Firefox's sidebar chatbot and Shake to Summarize on iOS. Mozilla has opened a waitlist for early testers to try it and help shape how it works. This is important because: Most browsers rolling out AI right now tend to be baked in and unavoidable. Some AI browsers overreach by trying to automate everything at once, as seen in Opera's early AI browser tests. Mozilla's approach flips that by putting you in control, letting you decide when AI shows up, and your normal browsing stays untouched. Your regular browsing doesn't get cluttered with AI suggestions. You decide when the AI can see or help with the content in front of you. Mozilla's "build in the open" approach means users can influence how AI Window evolves. Recommended Videos Why should I care? Mozilla is adding AI as users expect smarter in-browser help, and other browsers like ChatGPT Atlas are already proving to be useful. If you want the power of AI without losing control of your browser, Firefox's AI Window can be the best fit for you. You can try AI help without committing to an always-on AI experience. It gives you a place to ask the assistant for summaries, research help, or contextual tips while keeping your main tabs private and unchanged. Your broader browsing setup stays under your control as you can switch back to classic or private windows anytime. OK, what's next? Sign up for early access if you want to test AI Window and send feedback. Mozilla will iterate based on what users and developers report, and it's likely the feature will change as it moves from pilot to wider availability.

Mozilla unveils AI Window for user-controlled browsing in Firefox

Mozilla has previewed AI Window, its next major AI feature in Firefox, built around the same principles that guide its broader AI work: choice, transparency and openness. The company says users will never be required to use AI or be limited to a single ecosystem, and Firefox will continue offering flexible experiences that let people decide how much AI they want -- or whether they want it at all. AI Window is an upcoming intelligent panel within Firefox that lets users chat with an AI assistant and access helpful tools while browsing, entirely on their terms. It sits alongside the classic Firefox interface, including Private Window mode, and can be turned on or off at any time. Mozilla positions AI Window as an extension of its effort to give users new ways to interact with the web while keeping control firmly in their hands. Mozilla says it aims to build a browser that adapts to different usage patterns. Some people use AI frequently, others only occasionally, and many are still exploring what AI can offer. Firefox's approach avoids forcing AI into the browsing experience or tying users to proprietary environments. Instead, the focus is on flexibility and transparent decision-making. As AI becomes a common interface for navigating the web, Mozilla highlights the importance of keeping these tools open, accountable and aligned with user agency. The company believes an independent browser has a role in shaping how AI integrates into the web -- encouraging discovery rather than keeping people within closed conversational systems. Mozilla sees this work as essential to supporting a free and accessible web. Earlier this year, Firefox introduced several optional AI features such as the desktop chatbot sidebar, Shake to Summarize on iOS, automatic alt text generation, on-device translation, tab-group naming suggestions and link previews. These capabilities are processed locally where possible to maintain privacy. Firefox also supports multiple chatbot providers -- including Anthropic Claude, ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and Le Chat Mistral -- for tasks like summarizing pages, drafting content or asking questions directly from the sidebar. Mozilla says it will continue refining AI Window with community feedback while ensuring Firefox remains fast, secure, private and aligned with user choice.

Firefox's New AI Window Sparks Buzz, Questions, and Big Browser Shifts

Mozilla Unveils Firefox AI Window, Promising Smarter Browsing Without Compromising Choice Mozilla has announced a major update to Firefox, introducing an AI Window. It's a new browsing mode designed to integrate artificial intelligence directly into the user's workflow. The AI Window will work alongside the existing Classic and Private windows, giving users the option of an AI-assisted browsing experience when they want it. The company believes that users will be able to interact with an , generate summaries, and receive contextual help directly within the browser. The company has opened up a waitlist as the feature is still under development.

Mozilla to enhance Firefox with new AI window for smarter browsing

Users can join a waitlist, with Mozilla emphasizing choice, privacy, and platform flexibility. Mozilla is preparing to introduce a new opt-in feature for Firefox called AI Window. The feature will reportedly appear alongside Classic and Private browsing modes. The feature is designed to give users access to their preferred AI assistants only when they choose to use them. Mozilla says the experience is being built openly with community input, and it will not require users to rely on any single system or tool. The company positions AI Window as a controlled space that supports browsing tasks while keeping users in charge of when and how AI becomes part of their online activity. Mozilla says the upcoming AI Window builds on earlier additions to Firefox, including sidebar chatbot access introduced in 2024 and released widely with Firefox 135.0 update in February. Other features such as automatic text descriptions, translation tools, enhanced tab grouping and link summaries are already part of the browser on various platforms. Also read: Apple iPhone 15 price drops by over Rs 20,000 on Amazon Earlier in September, Firefox introduced a feature on iPhones that lets you shake your device to get quick, AI-generated summaries of the page you are reading. Mozilla continues to present itself as a browser that lets people decide how much AI they want to use during their daily browsing. In a recent blog post, Mozilla said others are creating AI tools that keep people stuck in long chats, while its goal is to offer something more helpful. The company sees AI Window as a companion that supports your time online and helps you explore the wider web. Also read: Google Messages may soon let you tag friends in RCS group chats, here's how While the new AI Windows can't be accessed currently. Users can sign up for a waitlist to receive updates as the preview approaches. Mozilla says AI Window will let people chat with assistants or request help only when needed, and because it is optional, users can avoid AI entirely if they prefer. Ajit Varma, writing on behalf of the company, said Mozilla views it as a responsibility to guide the way such tools appear on the web in ways that expand choice rather than limit it. Also read: Elon Musk wins first round as US court lets xAI sue Apple and OpenAI over Siri integration The addition of a dedicated AI mode places Firefox among a growing number of browsers experimenting with built-in assistants, though Mozilla stresses that its approach will not confine users to a single platform. The company says feedback from early testers will shape how the feature evolves.