Mozilla's New CEO: It's Time to Evolve Firefox Into an AI Browser

Brace for more AI, Firefox users. Mozilla has a new CEO, and he's focused on evolving Firefox into a "modern AI browser."

Anthony Enzor-DeMeo joined Mozilla a year ago and served as SVP of Firefox for eight months before he was named general manager in July. In a blog post, Enzor-DeMeo laid out his strategy, which involves pursuing AI with safeguards in place, including a power-off button. 

The new CEO's overarching goal is to turn Mozilla into the “world’s most trusted software company,” citing public dissatisfaction with today’s privacy practices and the tech industry’s growing appetite for all kinds of data. (In a press release, Mozilla also noted that "consumers around the world increasingly feel over-tracked, under-informed, and unsure how AI systems shape the information they see and the decisions they make.")

"I knew this would become a defining issue, especially in the browser, where so many decisions about privacy, data, and transparency now originate," Enzor-DeMeo says. "People want software that is fast, modern, but also honest about what it does. They want to understand what’s happening and to have real choices.”

Anthony Enzor-DeMeo (Credit: Mozilla)

This also applies to AI. “Controls must be simple,” he wrote. “AI should always be a choice—something people can easily turn off. People should know why a feature works the way it does and what value they get from it.”

Another priority is to expand Mozilla’s products beyond the browser, although Firefox will remain the company's anchor. “It will evolve into a modern AI browser and support a portfolio of new and trusted software additions,” he says.

Last month, Mozilla began previewing this approach with “AI Window,” an upcoming built-in digital assistant for Firefox browser, which can be turned off. 

Fifteen years ago, Firefox held a sizable share of the browser market at around 30%. But the product's popularity has steadily declined to a mere 4.25% share of desktop browser market while Google’s Chrome dominates at 75%, according to November data from Statcounter. 

Despite the loss, Mozilla has managed to sail along, thanks to both donations and millions in royalties from Google to be the default search engine in Firefox browser. However, Enzor-DeMeo is hoping to diversify Mozilla’s revenue streams with new products, a task the company's previous CEOs have focused on as well.

“In the next three years, that means investing in AI that reflects the Mozilla Manifesto. It means diversifying revenue beyond search,” he wrote. 

Still, Firefox is bound to face intensifying competition as Chrome also adds more AI features, and more companies, including OpenAI, expand with their own AI browsers. Meanwhile, some critics have warned that AI browsers are inherently insecure and a possible hacking risk.