Oh, no! Firefox WITH AI?!

[Anonymouse]

According to this, Firefox is going AI - and this is not optional.

That's it. I'm now looking for a browser that is a) private, b) not Chromium (if the two are not the same), and c) with NO AI.

OTOH, I've just read this...

If - IF - he listens to users eschewing AI, I might reconsider. Bloody big 'if', though.

https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2025/1...i-kill-switch/

Something that hasn't been made clear: Firefox will have an option to completely disable all AI features. We've been calling it the AI kill switch internally. I'm sure it'll ship with a less murderous name, but that's how seriously and absolutely we're taking this.

All AI features will also be opt-in. I think there are some grey areas in what 'opt-in' means to different people (e.g. is a new toolbar button opt-in?), but the kill switch will absolutely remove all that stuff, and never show it in future. That's unambiguous.

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.

I hope we can (re)gain your trust here. I don't personally work on this stuff, but I'll try hard to answer any questions you have. And other than that, I'll get back in my lane, and stick to web platform stuff. - Jake (@jakearchibald.com)

Hopefully this will come to be (as a Firefox user)

[Anonymouse]

Oh. Well, if switching off AI is - and stays - an option after all, I'll stick with it.

NOTE: My antipathy towards AI is not caused by technophobia. I entirely agree AI has its place...as a tool, not as a replacement. Teaching, art, writing, psychology - no. Anti-hacking and/or dealing with spam, possibly. Research...mmm, as long as the research is of human origin and the AI is helping.

Nor am I being old-fashioned (though I might be entitled at 60!). Again, AI has its place. But too often it's being misused.

Oh, I forgot - no bloody AI interviews! Keep Personnel as people!
(That's 'people', not "Human Resources", a term I have always despised. A computer is a resource. A photocopier is a resource. The Internet is a resource. But people are people. Treat them as such.)

I stick with FF as I prefer it over the others, but the developers lost touch with reality years ago, thats why its share is now about 3% and not the 30% it once was.

[Sirius]

I have been using Brave for a while now and i am happy with it. I stopped using firefox due to many issues that i found annoying.

[SnoopZ]

Vivaldi for me, I hope they never take the AI route.

[Carth]

Vivaldi here too, not that it's the best, but it suits my needs