Technologies

Mozilla Adds Option to Disable New AI Features Coming to Firefox Browser

Mozilla says the new version will be available on desktop-only on Feb. 24.

Mozilla Firefox is adding new AI features this month, but you’ll have the option to turn them off, according to a Tuesday blog post from Firefox head Ajit Varma.

«AI is changing the web, and people want very different things from it,» Varma wrote in the post. «Listening to our community, alongside our ongoing commitment to offer choice, led us to build AI controls.»

Varma said in a November blog post that Mozilla planned to expand AI features for Firefox. This includes an AI chatbot sidebar and AI-powered summaries. But in this new post, Varma said many people want nothing to do with AI, so Mozilla will include a button to turn off AI in the latest update.

A Mozilla spokesperson told CNET that Firefox is making its AI features optional, transparent and easy to control or turn off entirely. «The goal is always for a better browsing experience, one that keeps people in control of how they experience the web and now AI, as it becomes more common across the web,» the spokesperson said via email.

The new version of Firefox, 148, will go live on desktops on Feb. 24. The Mozilla spokesperson clarified that the new version will be desktop-only starting out, saying «we are focused on getting the experience right before expanding further. We’re closely watching early feedback and using those learnings to inform what comes next.»

Artificial intelligence permeates the internet nowadays, and the new version of the Firefox browser with AI features joins other leading browsers that have decided to integrate AI. Apple’s Safari and Microsoft’s Edge both offer AI features.

Firefox embraces AI

With around 200 million active monthly users, Firefox, which is run by the Mozilla Foundation, is by far the largest nonprofit-backed internet browser. When the updated version of Firefox rolls out this month, people will find a new menu in the settings with toggles for each AI feature, allowing them to turn on and off any or all AI options.

This new Firefox will include AI in regular internet browsing in several ways. The toggles for users that Varma mentions in his post can turn off AI for language translation, PDF alt text, tab grouping suggestions, link preview summaries, and the sidebar chatbot, which also allows people to select a specific chatbot, such as ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot or Google Gemini.

In a July blog post, Mozilla AI product leader Jolie Huang outlined Firefox’s stance concerning AI and emphasized a privacy-first focus. Huang laid out the AI features coming to Firefox and also wrote about privacy, a key feature of the browser for a long time.

«Our ongoing commitment to privacy-preserving AI drives us to continuously develop and enhance features that respect and protect your personal information,» Huang wrote. «At Firefox, AI is about creating a smarter, more intuitive browsing experience that boosts productivity without sacrificing privacy.»

You can try out the AI features early using Firefox Nightly, the in-development version of Firefox that is less stable and updated daily.

Technologies

A Hacker Threat Is Hiding in Your Car’s Tire Pressure System

A new study reveals that a car’s tire pressure monitoring system can be easily accessed by hackers.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Friday, Feb. 27

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Feb. 27.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Was today’s Mini Crossword too short for you? The New York Times now has a Midi Crossword, which is not as big as the original NYT Crossword, but longer than the Mini. Read on for the answers to today’s Mini Crossword. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Lacking locks
Answer: BALD

5A clue: One of the Great Lakes
Answer: ERIE

6A clue: Movie with the fake newspaper headline «Wonder Elephant Soars to Fame!»
Answer: DUMBO

8A clue: Live tweeter?
Answer: BIRD

9A clue: The slightest bit
Answer: ATAD

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Hard thing to leave on a cold day
Answer: BED

2D clue: Caribbean island northwest of Curaçao
Answer: ARUBA

3D clue: The sky, in a saying
Answer: LIMIT

4D clue: Actress Messing
Answer: DEBRA

7D clue: Like this clue number
Answer: ODD

Technologies

Smartphone Sales to Plummet 13% in 2026 Due to RAM Crisis, Says IDC

AI-fueled memory scarcity is hitting the phone market hard this year, particularly for inexpensive, low-end devices.

The projected shortage of memory chips worldwide will have a more serious impact on smartphone sales in 2026 than previously projected, according to new data from International Data Corporation Worldwide. Whereas the company just in November had estimated a drop of between 0.9% and 5.2% (the latter being its «pessimistic scenario»), now it sees a 12.9% decline this year, based on its Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker.

«What we are witnessing is not a temporary squeeze, but a tsunami-like shock originating in the memory supply chain, with ripple effects spreading across the entire consumer electronics industry,» Francisco Jeronimo, vice president for Worldwide Client Devices at IDC, said in a statement.

The hardest-hit companies are expected to be those selling to the lower end of the market, which can’t absorb the higher component costs while maintaining profitable margins. As a result, Jeronimo says, many of those players will pass the added costs on to consumers.

That also includes regional markets like the Middle East and Africa that sell mostly inexpensive smartphones, which could see a steep 20.6% drop year-over-year.

By contrast, IDC expects Apple and Samsung to be better able to withstand the crisis. «As smaller and low-end-positioned Android vendors struggle with rising costs, Apple and Samsung could not only weather the storm but potentially expand market share as the competitive landscape tightens,» said Jeronimo.

Memory has become scarce due to the insatiable demand to feed generative AI. Essentially all of the memory set to be manufactured this year is already earmarked. What started as a demand for graphics processors has expanded to other components. For example, hard drive manufacturer Western Digital announced in early February that it had already sold out of its supply for 2026.

«We expect consolidation as smaller players exit, and low-end vendors face sharp shipment declines amid supply constraints and lower demand at higher price points,» said Nabila Popal, senior research director at IDC, projecting a 14% rise in the average selling price of smartphones to $523.

Popal expects memory prices to stabilize by the middle of 2027, but doesn’t see them coming down to earlier levels. The sub-$100 segment, made up of approximately 171 million devices, will be «permanently uneconomical,» she said. «In short, there is no return to business as usual for vendors and consumers.»