3 days ago
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ZDNET's key takeaways
- AI arrived in Firefox in December, and more control is coming soon.
- Firefox will soon let you enable or disable AI features.
- Firefox 148 arrives Feb. 24.
Every major web browser on the market includes AI tools. There's Copilot for Edge, Aria for Opera, Apple Intelligence for Safari, and more. But Mozilla was behind the curve in adding AI to Firefox.
In December, when Mozilla announced it would finally add AI to Firefox, the reaction from users wasn't exactly welcoming. What Mozilla failed to realize is that the majority of Firefox users don't want AI. Many Linux users, who make up a large share of Firefox's fan base, don't want AI in their OS, either.
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With the upcoming Firefox 148 release, Mozilla is addressing that backlash by introducing new AI controls that let you easily enable, disable, or manage these features on your own terms.
What AI features does Firefox include?
The AI features in Firefox include the usual suspects: AI chatbot, page summary, translations, accessibility descriptions in PDFs, and AI-enhanced tab grouping. Of course, AI is a new path to monetization, which is something Mozilla is desperate for. My guess is that's why it decided to add the modern technology to the aging browser.
How to turn off AI in Mozilla Firefox
With the soon-to-be-released version 148, the open-source web browser will include a centralized tool for managing AI features, including the AI chatbot, page summaries, translations, accessibility descriptions in PDFs, and AI-enhanced tab grouping. With this new tool, you'll be able to block, review, and manage those features.
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The AI feature manager will be found within the Firefox Settings page, under a section labeled AI Controls.
The AI Controls feature coming to Firefox 148.
Essentially, this new control tool lets you use Firefox without AI, without hindering Mozilla's development of its AI features.
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With the flip of a single on/off switch, you can disable all AI features in the browser, or enable or disable features one by one, giving you a sort of a la carte customization for Firefox. You'll have access to turning off (or leaving on) features like translations, image alt text in the Firefox PDF viewer, tab group suggestions, key points in link previews, and the AI chatbot in the Firefox sidebar.
Check out this YouTube video from the Firefox channel that does a great job of explaining the new AI Controls feature:
After configuring AI in Firefox, those changes will be honored after updates are applied (so you don't have to remember to go back and disable or enable the features you don't want or want).
Release timeline
In the official Firefox announcement, Ajit Varma, head of Firefox, said: "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."
The announcement also mentions that the new feature will arrive in version 148. I installed Firefox Nightly (which is currently version 148.0b10), and the new AI Controls feature is not yet available. Currently, there is no timeline for which Nightly release will include the AI Controls feature, but it will most certainly make it to the stable release, which is slated for Feb. 24.
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Most browsers already offer this feature. With Edge, you can disable Copilot. With Chrome, you can disable Gemini. With Opera, you can disable Aria. Firefox users are accustomed to the browser lagging in adopting new features and adapting to the technological landscape, and this new AI Controls feature proves that again.
I'm glad to see that Firefox is gaining this feature. It was inevitable that the browser would eventually add AI into the mix, despite the backlash of doing so. The good news is that it's obvious Mozilla is listening to its users and is willing to add a feature to give control over AI to the user. Had the developers not offered the ability to disable AI, Mozilla stood to lose a portion of its user base.
I'll regularly download and install the nightly builds to make sure I have the new AI Controls tool as soon as possible.
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