The spikes in CPU and energy consumption of Firefox are said to be explained by a built-in “inference engine”.
Users notice that Firefox requires more memory and energy than usual. The culprit seems to be a new AI feature that Mozilla has added to name tab groups, among other things. This feature creates a background process on your PC: inference.
Disabling is Possible
Fortunately, the AI chatbot feature can be easily disabled via the settings. Type “about:config” in the address bar, then search for browser.ml.chat.enabled and set it to false. Those who want to disable everything related to “ml” (machine learning) can adjust the all-encompassing category browser.ml.enable.
After complaints, Mozilla confirmed that the feature was temporarily scaled back. However, the fact that the AI components are active by default does not sit well with users who want full control over their browsing experience. A Firefox spokesperson in The Register: “Inference is an isolated process in Firefox responsible for private on-device AI inference, such as website translations.”
AI is Everywhere
Mozilla is not the only one adding AI to their browser. Perplexity is working on its own AI browser and made an unexpected bid for Google Chrome. The latter is working on a new search bar with AI as an overarching feature. Meanwhile, Edge has a Copilot mode. Whether you want it or not, AI is increasingly infiltrating our applications.
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