Mozilla’s new CEO says AI is coming to Firefox, but it will remain optional

Mozilla has appointed Anthony Enzor-DeMeo as its CEO as the makers of the Firefox browser struggle to adapt to a rapidly changing market.

The selection comes at a time when browsers are seeing a revival of sorts as AI changes the way people use the internet. After more than a decade of dominating the market, the likes of Firefox, Google Chrome and Apple’s Safari are facing new challenges from companies like. Mental confusion, Arc, OpenAIand Operawhich focuses on cooking in AI models and assistants in their browsers to bring AI to users at the first point of contact with the Internet: the browser.

These changes don’t seem to have been lost on Mozilla, either it has several organizationsone of them is Mozilla Corporation, which produces Firefox and other technologies, and the other is the non-profit and non-taxable Mozilla Foundation, which oversees the management of Mozilla and sets policies for browser developers.

The company has had a difficult time recently: It has gone through restructuring, and last year he laid off 30% of his staff and he gave up his publicity and international programs.

But the ability to bounce back in the midst of today’s search wars doesn’t seem to be lost on the company. Mozilla will be investing in AI and will add AI features to Firefox, Enzor-DeMeo said. in a blog post announcing his appointment.

That said, Mozilla seems intent on not upsetting users who have opted for Firefox because of the lack of AI features: Enzor-DeMeo said the company will make AI features optional within Firefox and its other products.

“AI should always be optional – something that humans can easily turn off.” People need to know why the product works the way it does and what benefits they get from it.

The company will also make money to shift its money beyond search (in exchange for Google as a search engine, Mozilla makes a large part of its money from the search giant), and Enzor-DeMeo said that Mozilla plans to make Firefox a “great system of reliable software.”

Currently, the company also produces the Thunderbird email client, a VPNand last year established An AI-powered website builder for small businesses.

Before his appointment, Enzor-DeMeo was the general manager of Firefox, and now he is taking over the role of the interim CEO, Laura Chambers, who has been there for the past few years. Enzor-DeMeo previously worked at Roofstock, Better, and Wayfair.