Publié : 2 November 2025
Actualisé : 1 day ago
Fiabilité : ✓ Sources vérifiées
Notre équipe met à jour cet article dès que de nouvelles informations sont disponibles.
📋 Table of Contents
🦊 Firefox: My Old Companion, My New Headache
Ah, Firefox ! A name that resonates with nostalgia for many of us. I still remember Firefox 3, that glimmer of hope agai nst a fading Internet Explorer. It was an era when Mozilla embodied the alternative, a mature, performant, and independent browser. A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then. The arrival of Google Chrome, also in 2008, reshuffled the deck, and today, the Mountain View giant utterly dominates the market.
Its secret? The open-source Chromium project, the technical foundation upon which so many other browsers, from Edge to Brave, now rely. It’s a bit like everyone driving the same car, but with different stickers. Yet, I’ve remained loyal to my fire fox. On macOS, Windows, Linux… it accompanies me everywhere, even if sometimes its little quirks (like the Ubuntu Snap package that needs manual updates) give me cold sweats.
The key point to remember: Despite Chrome’s overwhelming dominance and its Chromium engine, Firefox remains a stronghold for users who value independence, performance, and a certain web ethic.
🤖 AI, Everywhere, All the Time… Really?
It’s no secret to anyone who reads my columns: I love artificial intelligence. I explore it, dissect it, use it daily. But there’s a “but,” a huge “BUT.” I’m developing a severe allergy to this trend of wanting to inject AI absolutely everywhere, just because it’s trendy. We see it with Microsoft’s Copilot, which is even showing up in the venerable Notepad.
Frankly, is that really what we ask of our browser? When I launch Firefox, I expect it to be fast, light, secure. A solid, well-managed foundation that ensures its longevity. Not a digital Swiss Army knife crammed with “smart” gadgets that I didn’t ask for. A browser is a tool for browsing, not a forced personal AI assistant.
Important: The essence of Firefox lies in its performance, lightness, and security. The forced addition of superfluous AI features risks betraying this philosophy and bloating an experience that aims to be simple and efficient.
🛑 No to Forced AI: The Annoying Menu
And then, suddenly. Firefox starts adding AI features. A button to summarize the current page? Seriously? I don’t need anyone to hold my hand for that. If I need an AI, I’ll go find it myself, and often, it will be a local AI, on my own computer, with tools like Ollama. They even give us the choice of AI provider in a sidebar. That’s a step, but it doesn’t solve the problem of default integration.
I’m fed up with the current trend of wanting to put AI absolutely everywhere just because it’s fashionable. […] If I need AI, I’ll go find it myself.
Artificial intelligence must remain a choice, not a forced feature. Especially when it adds bloat to software whose strength is precisely its sobriety and efficiency. It’s a matter of control, preference, and adherence to the original philosophy of this browser.
🛠️ The Settings to Regain Control of Your Firefox
Fortunately, if you’re like me and want a streamlined Firefox without invasive AI, solutions exist. Mozilla has, for now, provided the keys to disable these new features. Ready to get your hands dirty? Don’t panic, it’s simpler than it looks!
Open your browser and in the address bar, type about:config then press Enter. A warning will appear: “Accept the Risk and Continue”. This is the gateway to Firefox’s advanced settings. In the search bar at the top, you will need to find and modify the following preferences by toggling them to false (either by double-clicking or using the dedicated button):
| Firefox Preference | Function |
|---|---|
browser.ml.enable |
Disables all global machine learning (AI) functions built-in. |
browser.ml.chat.enabled |
Disables the integrated AI chatbot in the browser. |
browser.ml.chat.menu |
Removes the chatbot-related option from the context menu (right-click). |
browser.ml.chat.page |
Disables AI tools directly on web pages (summarization, suggestions). |
browser.ml.chat.page.footerBadge |
Hides the AI icon or badge displayed at the bottom of web pages. |
browser.ml.chat.page.menuBadge |
Removes the AI badge visible in the browser menus. |
Once these adjustments are made, restart (or not, sometimes it takes effect immediately) your browser. You should find a Firefox that is more aligned with your expectations.
✨ Towards a Lighter Firefox, True to Its Spirit
There you go, your Firefox is now freed from these forced AI features. You’ve regained control. The result? A lighter, more neutral browsing experience, and above all, truer to Mozilla’s original spirit: a high-performing and user-respecting browser. Because in the end, that’s what freedom is: choosing what we want in our digital tools, and what we don’t.
❔ Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the author not want AI in Firefox?
0 Comments