I want to like Mozilla…

I feel almost obligated to like Mozilla. Firefox was the browser of choice on my first computer—an old Windows XP box shared among my siblings in the late 2000s. At the time, I didn’t think much of the browser; it was just what my parents used, so it was what we used. It wasn’t until I got a computer I could call my own that I really started getting into tech. With that came an understanding of the importance of FOSS and the role of Mozilla. Here was a non-profit organization fighting for the future of the open web. I mean, that’s fucking awesome!

So, I used Firefox for years. I was an excited Nightly build user because I wanted to be on the bleeding edge of new features. I remember diving into about:config to manually enable beta UI changes just before Quantum launched. I stuck by Firefox even when the internet seemed to be disparaging it—hating on new UI changes or the integration of Pocket. I dismissed most of those complaints as needless bickering. Eventually, however, I left for greener pastures. About a year ago, I decided to move to Vivaldi full-time. I had been “browser hopping” for a while even before moving to Vivaldi, spliting my time between Vivaldi, Firefox, and Safari, but nowadays, I’m all-in on Vivaldi—and I love it.

Recent developments in AI

About a week ago, Mozilla released their annual report. In it, they pledged to leverage their approximately $1.4 billion cash reserves to pivot toward AI. While they plan to spend about $650 million across their portfolio in 2026, roughly 20% of that is specifically earmarked for AI efforts. For the past couple of years, I’ve been scratching my head at some of Mozilla’s moves, but I can’t stay silent on this one.

Full disclosure: I’m not 100% against AI. I use it all the time. For the last six months, I’ve been self-hosting a LibreChat server and using Gemini and AWS Bedrock through their respective APIs. It’s a useful tool for studying, coding, or troubleshooting whatever weird tech problems I run into when I’m doing my favorite pasttime—breaking shit. But it’s a tool I want to choose when and how to use. I don’t want or need an “AI browser window,” no matter how private it claims to be. I want agency in how I browse the web, and baked-in AI often takes that away.

Then there’s the economics of it. Most people seem to agree that AI is a bubble that will eventually pop. Maybe they’re wrong, but looking at the current landscape, I don’t think they are. I can’t help but wonder why Mozilla thinks investing at what is likely the peak of the AI bubble is a sound strategy. If it were 2022, I might understand. But now, in 2026? I just have to ask: Why?

Is Mozilla doomed?

I always hope to end things on a light note, but I’m not sure I can here. For the sake of the open web, I really want Firefox to succeed, but I don’t know if they will. Their market share has been dropping for years—currently sitting at roughly 2.25%—and it might already be too late. Even though I like Safari and the work the WebKit team is doing, from a fundamental, ideological standpoint, I don’t think it’s healthy for two megacorps (Apple and Google) to control how we access the internet.

For now, I’m sticking with Vivaldi. They’re not FOSS, which really fucking sucks, but I’m willing to overlook that for everything else they provide. They have taken a principled stand against AI, they’re constantly adding useful features, and the customizability is unmatched. Plus, the Vivaldi community is fucking peak—there’s a reason I’m on their Mastodon instance! Maybe someday Firefox will do enough to win users back, but with their current direction, I doubt that day is coming anytime soon.