Technology @lemmy.world soulfirethewolf @lemdro.id 1y ago

Mozilla downsizes as it refocuses on Firefox and AI: Read the memo | TechCrunch

techcrunch.com Mozilla downsizes as it refocuses on Firefox and AI: Read the memo | TechCrunch

After installing a new interim CEO earlier this month, Mozilla, the organization behind the Firefox browser, is making some major changes to its product

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Compared to the blockchain type train, I thought this whole AI thing was quite cool and actually useful, but it feels more and more similar to the blockchain hype, where companies tried to solve every problem with some form of blockchain (for example in-game items).

The same is kind of happening with AI now.
- Also, a large amount of those NFT bros have lately been pushing to allow AI companies to steal artist's works and otherwise generally licking big AI companies' collective boot, so not exactly a great look for the future of the industry
  
  Define "a lot"? Or better yet, sources?
They will be shoving AI / ML into Firefox. FFS.
- Please God no.
- Guess what, the local private translations feature depends on AI/ML. All this blind hate for AI is so stupid.
  
  The new translation feature is quite awesome.
  
  It's the new cool thing to hate it.
- Time to fork it.
  
  Or, you know, clicking a button in the settings to turn it off.
  
  Librewolf
  
  Hell yes
Man fuck AI
- Absolutely, but probably not until they have figured out how to make soft androids.
At least the code is open, and Librewolf works great.
You know, I’m surprised they haven’t launched a paid for, privacy centric email service like Proton or FastMail. They can give basic service for free and then charge a nominal fee for more storage like the others do. It seems like a simple way to drum up some revenue and rely a little less on the payment from Google.
- From everything I've heard about running a reliable and trustworthy email service, it sounds like a fucking nightmare. I'm glad to pay something like proton to handle it for me.
- Wouldn't really consider Fastmail privacy centric, but Proton sure. And a definite step up from Gmail.
So Thunderbird is super dead this time huh?
- Isn't Thunderbird completely self-managed? I don't think they have anything to do with MozCorp.
- I'm hoping the K-9 Android thing still happens.
- I think they may be dumping all the rest of the code on the FOSS team.
Welp, using the internet was fun while it lasted. I'll still use Firefox for all my browsing until I can't anymore and after that I guess I'll go fuck myself for entertainment instead of internet browsing.
This is the best summary I could come up with:

After installing a new interim CEO earlier this month, Mozilla, the organization behind the Firefox browser, is making some major changes to its product strategy, TechCrunch has learned.

Specifically, Mozilla plans to scale back its investment in a number of products, including its VPN, Relay and, somewhat remarkably, its Online Footprint Scrubber, which launched only a week ago.

Going forward, the company said in an internal memo, Mozilla will focus on bringing “trustworthy AI into Firefox.” To do so, it will bring together the teams that work on Pocket, Content and AI/Ml.

Mozilla started expanding its product portfolio in recent years, all while its flagship product, Firefox, kept losing market share.

And while the organization was often sharply criticized for this, its leadership argued that diversifying its product portfolio beyond Firefox was necessary to ensure Mozilla’s survival in the long run.

Firefox, after all, provided the vast majority of Mozilla’s income, but it also meant the organization was essentially dependent on Google to continue this deal.

The original article contains 234 words, the summary contains 166 words. Saved 29%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
So, how much time do I have before I have to switch to Servo?
I don’t get the hate. Browsers are one of the few places LLMs make actual sense.
Mozilla Corp. acting as any other Corp. Unbelievable /s
And yet still no HDR support

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