Willem (@willemwb.bsky.social)

Firefox's "AI Killswitch" Coming February 24 Firefox's much anticipated "AI Killswitch" is set to <a href="https://blog.mozilla.org/en/firefox/ai-controls/">release</a> in Firefox 148, expected to ship in just a few weeks on February 24.Mozilla has been pretty universally regarded as a headache for some time, even by their most ardent fans. Nearly all popular browsers are based on Google's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blink_(browser_engine)">Blink</a> web engine that powers Chromium. Any browser based on Chromium - including Brave, Vivaldi, Opera, and even Edge - is ultimately dependent on Google this way. As such, many people want to see Mozilla's Firefox (based on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gecko_(software)">Gecko</a> engine) succeed as a healthy competitor and alternative to Google's "Chromium monopoly."Unfortunately, Mozilla has been consistently and catastrophically bungling this mission for years. Firefox's development has languished, falling behind competitors dramatically in terms of security and end-user facing "quality of life" features such as vertical tabs, HDR support, and improved sandboxing. Meanwhile, the company invested in a variety of unrelated and often controversial ventures such as fake-review-spotting app <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2023/05/02/mozilla-buys-fakespot-identifies-fake-reviews-shopping-tools-firefox/">Fakespot</a> and analytics company <a href="https://www.osnews.com/story/140047/mozilla-acquires-ad-analytics-company-for-some-reason/">Anonym</a>.Most recently, Mozilla has been aggressively attempting to expand into the AI space. They've integrated AI features into Firefox, such as the <a href="https://blog.mozilla.org/en/firefox/firefox-144/">Perplexity</a> search engine or the ability to talk to <a href="https://support.mozilla.org/kb/ai-chatbot" rel="noreferrer">chatbots</a> directly from the sidebar. It's worth noting that absolutely none of these tools come with any privacy improvements from Mozilla. They're provided strictly as a convenience feature - a way to quickly and easily access them. Mozilla explicitly warns users that you're at the mercy of the provider's privacy policy should you interact with them.Because AI in general remains unpopular (probably in addition to all the above context), Mozilla's constant push into AI has resulted in massive pushback from both supporters and critics alike. For a brief period last year it looked like Mozilla might find their way back after a CEO swap and a few <a href="https://blog.mozilla.org/en/firefox/fingerprinting-protections/">small</a> <a href="https://blog.mozilla.org/en/firefox/dns-android/">improvements</a> to Firefox, but late last year the new CEO <a href="https://blog.mozilla.org/en/mozilla/leadership/mozillas-next-chapter-anthony-enzor-demeo-new-ceo/">confirmed</a> that in 2026, we could expect more of the same.Thankfully, he also confirmed one glimmer of hope: an "<a href="https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/outcry-firefox-promises-kill-switch-ai-features">AI Killswitch</a>" to quickly and easily disable all the AI features that are now being included in Firefox. Users haven't had to wait long: the announcement came in late December and we now know it should arrive in late February.It is the hope of all of us at Privacy Guides that Mozilla will continue to invest in Firefox's development apart from AI and return to creating a competitive, fully FOSS browser. https://www.privacyguides.org/news/2026/02/06/firefoxs-ai-killswitch-coming-february-24/