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; 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.
Firefox’s AI features are easy to opt out of
Earlier this month, Mozilla announced that new AI controls are coming to Firefox, starting with Firefox 148. This version, which dropped Feb. 24, sports a brand-new AI controls section in the settings panel on the desktop browser. (You’ll find it in 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.
What AI features Firefox offers
Credit: Lifehacker
Firefox 148 launches with these five AI features, which you can choose to enable to disable:
What do you think so far?
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Translations: Translates web pages into your target language.
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Alt text in PDFs: Adds accessibility descriptions to images attached to PDFs.
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AI-enhanced tab grouping: Suggests related tabs and group names for series of tabs.
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Link previews: Shows key points before opening a link.
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AI chatbot providers in the sidebar: Firefox is getting its own AI chatbot, though users can choose from existing chatbots like Claude, ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, and Le Chat Mistral.
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 once they update their browsers—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.
