Mozilla's CEO breaks down the Firefox Smart Window, AI kill switch, and more

Anthony Enzor-DeMeo took over as Mozilla CEO in December and quickly realized Firefox users wanted an exit door from the AI hype. A sizeable chunk of users have been loud and clear that they don’t want AI messing with their browsing experience. He listened and expedited a new kill switch that blocks AI entirely.

But it looks like the most vocal group of users who want to disable AI is actually a minority, according to the data. In an interview with CNET, Mozilla CEO Anthony Enzor-De reveled that just one percent of users have actually flipped that switch on mobile and desktop. Another three percent are using it to disable specific features. Those numbers are tiny. The rest of the tech industry is busy stuffing large language models into every search bar and text box. Firefox wants to build trust by simply offering a choice.

The browser handles actual AI integration differently than many of its rivals. Mozilla is beta testing an optional tool called Smart Window. You open a separate browsing window and pick the specific AI model you actually want to use. You can select ChatGPT or Gemini or plug in your own private open-source model.

The assistant can summarize open pages and compare different tabs to help you research faster. Mozilla promises (we’ll keep track) it won’t use your chat transcripts to train its models. The AI saves memories locally on your device to become more useful over time. You can view exactly what it remembers and delete anything you want forgotten.

Of course, running these tools requires serious server power, so Mozilla proxies the traffic to manage rate limits and recently even added a strict Google Play Integrity API check to the Android app to prevent abuse. This setup completely locks users running custom ROMs out of the new AI features. They’ve forced a Google verification layer into an app people download specifically to escape the Google ecosystem.

You currently have to join a waitlist to get the beta. So we’ve not been able to go hands-on with it just yet.

Still, privacy remains a core focus of the rest of the browser. Enzor-DeMeo prioritized building a VPN directly into Firefox. The built-in tool already hit 1.5 million signups and sees around 800,000 active users. You just click a button inside the browser instead of launching a separate app and logging in. Mozilla is running a promo right now offering an Unlimited VPN package that lets you pick your location. But keep in mind that this deal is only for the summer.

All of this leads into a massive visual update coming this fall. Project Nova brings a compact mode and rounded UI elements to the browser. Mozilla claims page load times are up to nine percent faster with the new update. The development team is polishing the core experience right now ahead of that big redesign. You can test it yourself as we highlighted earlier.

A new feature is also in the works to automatically organize similar open tabs into groups using AI. Enzor-DeMeo told CNET his main objective isn’t to overtake Chrome. He just wants to keep the internet an equal playing field.

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