Here’s how to turn it off once and for all
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Firefox’s new AI features are drawing criticism from both users and organizations, with complaints ranging from high CPU use and battery drain to serious concerns about privacy and copyright. In response, Mozilla is working on a policy that will allow enterprises to disable AI in Firefox, although everyday users still won’t have a simple switch.
With AI features deeply integrated into Chrome and Edge through Google Gemini and Microsoft Copilot, Mozilla has started adding its own AI tools to Firefox, from chatbots in the sidebar, including Microsoft Copilot, to smart tab grouping and AI-powered link previews.
Many people use Firefox because it has a reputation for being more privacy-friendly than Chrome or Edge. But as Mozilla moves deeper into AI, both organizations and individual users have raised concerns and asked for a way to turn these features off.
On GitHub, admins and users have echoed the same concerns, pointing to privacy, copyright, and even performance issues, and asking Mozilla for a clear, supported way to turn AI off across Firefox.
Firefox AI features
Some of the AI and machine learning features now in Firefox include:
- An AI chatbot in the sidebar
- AI-powered link previews
- Smart tab grouping
- PDF image descriptions
- Perplexity search integration
A new policy — but only for enterprises
In response to this feedback, Mozilla has introduced a new enterprise policy that allows businesses, schools, and other institutions to disable AI features in Firefox. This makes it easier for IT admins to centrally manage browsers and turn off AI across all devices.
For everyday users, nothing changes. Firefox’s Settings menu only offers limited controls, and there’s no dedicated switch to turn off AI completely. The only option is to go into the hidden about:config menu and change specific preferences, a workaround that isn’t as easy as a simple toggle.
How to disable AI in Firefox yourself
If you don’t want AI in Firefox, you can still disable most of it by visiting about:config once and switching the following preferences to false:
browser.ml.chat.enabled
browser.ml.chat.page.footerBadge
browser.ml.chat.page.menuBadge
browser.ml.chat.shortcuts
browser.ml.chat.shortcuts.custom
browser.ml.chat.sidebar
browser.ml.checkForMemory
browser.ml.enable
browser.ml.linkPreview.shift
According to Mozilla, an enterprise policy for “Generative AI” is now live in Firefox 144, with settings to disable chatbot sidebars, link previews, and more. However, features tied to accessibility, like PDF alt-text generation, remain enabled by default.
That’s not all. Firefox is also getting MKV video playback, Google Lens support, and an Edge-like split-screen feature soon.
