Firefox AI Features Ignite User Backlash Over High CPU & Battery Drain

Mozilla’s recent Firefox 141 update, introduced nearly three weeks ago, has ignited a significant controversy among its user base. While bringing welcomed improvements like memory optimizations for Linux and a built-in unit converter, the update also rolled out AI-enhanced tab groups, which are now facing widespread criticism for their resource consumption.

These new AI-powered tab groups leverage a local AI model to identify related tabs and suggest intuitive names for them. Users can even click a “Suggest more tabs for group” button to receive further recommendations. However, the convenience seems to come at a performance cost.

Users Report Significant Performance Issues

Numerous users have flocked to the Firefox subreddit to express their disappointment, citing high CPU usage and rapid battery drain directly linked to the new AI functionality. One user, u/st8ic88, observed a drastic drop in their machine’s CPU and battery life. Upon investigating with their task manager, they identified the “Inference” process as the primary culprit. This process is widely believed to be responsible for handling Firefox’s on-device AI operations.

The user’s frustration was palpable: “I don’t want this garbage bloating my browser, blowing up my CPU, and killing my battery life. There is absolutely no reason for it, it’s not a good feature, and it’s absolutely humiliating for Firefox to be jumping on this bandwagon. The point of a browser is to DOWNLOAD AND RENDER WEB PAGES.”

Another user corroborated these findings, noting the “Inference” process as a new, resource-intensive addition after checking their system’s process manager. Attempts to terminate this process reportedly caused Firefox to crash, necessitating a restart.

Firefox’s Approach: Privacy vs. Performance

In an era where generative AI, championed by giants like Microsoft’s aggressive Copilot integration into Edge, is transforming browser capabilities with features like page summaries and image generation, Firefox’s AI foray is notable. Unlike Chrome’s experimental Tab Organizer, which sends user data to Google’s servers for analysis, Firefox’s implementation is designed with privacy in mind.

The system operates locally through a two-part process:

• To suggest tabs for a group, an embedding model analyzes page titles and creates numerical “embedding vectors.” Clustering algorithms then compare these vectors to identify related pages.
• For group name suggestions, page titles and metadata are fed into Mozilla’s smart-tab-topic model, which is based on Google AI’s T5.

Despite the privacy-centric design, some speculate that the CPU spikes could stem from Firefox utilizing Microsoft’s Open Neural Network Exchange (ONNX) format for these local models, rather than the potentially more efficient GGUF format developed by Georgi Gerganov.

While AI-driven tab organization might appeal to users with an extensive number of open tabs, a significant portion of the user base views such features as unnecessary “bloat.” Many prefer their browser tools without AI add-ons, mirroring trends seen in applications like Zed Editor, which offers a global switch to disable all AI functionality.

How to Disable Firefox AI Features to Improve Performance

If you’re experiencing high CPU usage and battery drain due to Firefox’s new AI features, you can disable them through the browser’s advanced settings:

1. Open a new tab in Firefox and type about:config into the address bar.
2. Accept the risk warning if prompted.
3. Use the search bar to find specific AI controls:
   • To disable the AI chatbot feature, search for browser.ml.chat.enabled and set its value to false.
   • To disable smart tab grouping, search for browser.tabs.groups.smart.enabled and set its value to false.
4. You can also hide the chatbot from the sidebar in Firefox Settings or Firefox Labs, though it may reappear after future browser updates.

By adjusting these settings, users can regain control over their browser’s performance and ensure a smoother, less resource-intensive browsing experience.