Mozilla just did something rare in the current tech landscape.
They added an AI kill switch to Firefox.
While everyone else is stuffing their browsers with artificial intelligence whether you like it or not, Anthony Enzor-DeMeo—the new CEO who started in December—saw a problem.
The community was shouting.
“Our community was pretty vocal… not everyone wanted [AI],” he said.
So Mozilla expedited a feature already on the roadmap. Now you can toggle off AI entirely on mobile or desktop.
Did people rush to do it?
Nope.
Just 1% turned it off completely. Another 3% partially disabled features. Most users, it turns out, want the benefits. Translation tools are handy.
But the point wasn’t utility. It was choice.
“The great thing about Firefox is … weoffer choice,” Enzor-DeMeo told me.
He contrasted this with Microsoft forcing Copilot or Google shoving large AI models onto machines without asking. He noted that sentiment is shifting: “Hey, I didn’t ask for that.”
Firefox Smart Window: Pick Your Poison
Meet Smart Window.
It’s in beta right now. Instead of locking you into one chatbot, it lets you plug in your preferred AI model.
ChatGPT? Fine. Gemini? Cool. Open-source, locally hosted models? Also welcome.
“Our sidebar allows you to use all ofthem,” Enzor-DeMeo explained. “They all excel at different things.”
Mozilla wants other browsers to stop walled gardens and start adopting this agnostic approach.
Privacy gets a pass too. They don’t train on your data. Sensitive info is filtered. You decide what the AI remembers—and you can wipe its memory if you feel like it.
Here’s a cold water splash: most of the world can’t even access this tech.
83% of global populations have never used AI. In the US? Only about 3% are actually paying for it.
Enzor-DeMeo called the industry “largely non-profitable” and warned of ads flooding in soon.
“We get a little bit of tunnelvision… AI, AI, AI.”
If AI becomes the gatekeeper for the internet, the web gets closed off. Fast.
A VPN For The Browser Tab
Privacy isn’t just talk. Firefox launched a built-in free VPN last month.
1.5 million signups later.
Why put it inside the browser? Because opening another app just to hide your location is clunky.
“A subpar experience,” he noted.
Keep in mind—this is a browser-only VPN. It encrypts tab traffic, not your entire device. For robust security, you still need a dedicated app. But for casual browsing? It works.
Currently, there’s an unlimited geolocation package running through August 31.
Enzor-DeMeo sees a surge in surveillance. Whether you’re looking up medical info or just browsing, anonymity matters.
“I think people have a rightto privacy.”
Firefox Gets A Facelift
Project Nova.
That’s the codename for the Firefox update coming this fall. It drops the subname. It’s just Firefox again.
Expect it around September or October.
The stats are brutal if you’re feeling ambitious. Firefox holds about 2% market share. Chrome sits at 70%. Safari is at 16%. Mozilla doesn’t want to beat them in numbers.
They want fairness.
Speed is up 9%. The UI gets rounded corners, a compact mode, and a glow on the active tab.
One AI feature sticks around: automatic tab groups.
If you have forty tabs open, AI sorts them by topic. It’s not about chatting. It’s about efficiency.
Enzor-DeMeo keeps the mission clear.
“Our objective is notto be the biggest browser. It’s to keep the internetan equal playing field.”
The beta features are already trickling out to Nightly users. The forums are full of debate. The rewrite is messy but necessary.
What happens when the choice stops being interesting?
Who knows.
