this post was submitted on 23 Apr 2025
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[–] ThePantser@sh.itjust.works 149 points 3 days ago (9 children)

Why connect to the Internet with it then. The browser could just make everything up on the fly.

Got questions about a medication?

Maybe you want to check up on some disease symptoms?

AI can make something that sounds vaguely plausible.

[–] WanderingThoughts@europe.pub 73 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Why connect to the Internet with it then

To check if your subscription to their models is still valid of course

[–] kkj@lemmy.dbzer0.com 28 points 3 days ago (1 children)

And send back telemetry and training data.

[–] aesthelete@lemmy.world 12 points 3 days ago

AKA all of your personal data, you know, just in case we need it

[–] BeigeAgenda@lemmy.ca 20 points 3 days ago

Browsing the internet will be like playing AI Quake II, you'll think you are in this alternate universe.

[–] vane@lemmy.world 7 points 3 days ago

Why use head if you can use ChatGPT. Remove head and start working smarter.

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[–] kami@lemmy.dbzer0.com 107 points 3 days ago (4 children)

Sounds like the best thing that could happen to Firefox

[–] rumschlumpel@feddit.org 55 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (6 children)

Unfortunately, Mozilla is investing a ton of money into AI, too.

[–] doodledup@lemmy.world 28 points 3 days ago (1 children)

A desperate attempt of revenue diversification.

[–] rumschlumpel@feddit.org 9 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Considering how little they invest into their core product compared to all the other shit and how much money the top brass earns despite declining market share, I don't think they're hurting for money that much.

[–] doodledup@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago (1 children)

They are investing a lot in their core product. Problem is that you can't really monatize it. You want Firefox to be paywalled?

[–] rumschlumpel@feddit.org 3 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Ideally it would be financed by user donations. Probably not that realistic for a project like this, though.

[–] doodledup@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago

You can't finance a massive project like that with donations. This isn't like Signal or some small project like that. Firefox is MASSIVE.

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[–] exu@feditown.com 27 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Some of their I initiatives are good, like the built-in local translation tool we now have.

[–] TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world 19 points 3 days ago

Also their initiative to recognise images and generate alt-text for screen-reader users.

My sister is blind and screen readers are close to useless on the web, so it was great to hear Mozilla is working on that.

[–] Engywuck@lemm.ee 18 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Mozilla will loose Google's deal money.

[–] vivendi@programming.dev 15 points 3 days ago

Mozilla works mainly on LOCAL AI not this corporate trash like closedAI

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[–] grue@lemmy.world 43 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Mozilla spinning off control of its development to an independent group the way they did with Thunderbird would be the best thing that could happen to Firefox.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Thunderbird :

Operated by MZLA Technologies Corporation, a subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation, Thunderbird is an independent, community-driven project that is managed and overseen by the Thunderbird Council, which is elected by the Thunderbird community.

Chrome self-destructing because of stupidity like AI would only ever manage to be a close second, at best.

[–] compostgoblin@slrpnk.net 5 points 3 days ago

Has Mozilla indicated any openness to taking that approach with Firefox?

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[–] orca@orcas.enjoying.yachts 57 points 3 days ago

OpenAI is like a zombie stumbling around trying to infect everything. We shove it away because it’s fuckin’ gross and we want nothing to do with it, while the bosses that reanimated it are like “well fuck, we made this thing, we have to use it for something.”

[–] dumbass@leminal.space 50 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

You know how we thought " How could chrome get any worse?" well, we have an answer.

[–] pineapplelover@lemm.ee 33 points 3 days ago (4 children)

Are these fucks stupid? Chromium is open sourced. They can do it themselves

[–] GoodEye8@lemm.ee 49 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

They don't want to buy the browser. They want to buy the brand and the users. Chrome makes up over half the browser market. Think of all the data they could extract from Chrome users. It would cost significantly more to fork chromium and grow the user base to a point where they could extract anything valuable from them, and that's assuming they'd be successful enough to make it happen.

[–] mint_tamas@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)

There is no way Google would sell Chrome. But you can bet at least a thousand engineers are working on bolting Gemini onto it right now.

[–] GoodEye8@lemm.ee 15 points 2 days ago

There's no way Google would voluntarily sell Chrome. Unfortunately for them, they might be forced to sell Chrome.

[–] Saleh@feddit.org 12 points 3 days ago (1 children)

No, MS just wants to expand their monopoly, but "MS buying most common browser, after antitrust laws already forbid internet explorer" doesnt ring so well.

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[–] RickC137@lemmy.world 7 points 3 days ago (1 children)
[–] TON618@lemmy.world 5 points 3 days ago

I like to think if people want whatever it is OpenAI thinks browsers need AI for, the userbase will manifest itself.

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[–] neclimdul@lemmy.world 32 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Great! Now not only can chrome eat all my system memory, it can use all my GPU memory at the same time! It's genius!

[–] ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago

Likely it'll use the cloud for processing, you'll just get really hard-to-opt-out AI features, like "prompt by default" and "AI autocomplete", which you can only "snooze" as they'll automatically be turned back on the moment there's a "great new feature", like putting a filter on by default on image generators to fool the eye that it's made by real artists.

[–] 11111one11111@lemmy.world 30 points 3 days ago (2 children)

How the fuck would this be more cost effective than them making their own chrome based browser and not be a demonstration of their over inflated operating costs and company valuation?

If you are paying for a service that is charging you enough to allow them to buy the most widly used browser from a company whose business model is to monopolize data, then maybe you're paying them a titbit more than what the service they're providing is worth.

[–] MysticKetchup@lemmy.world 64 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I'm sure they're less interested about buying Chrome than they are about buying Chrome's market share

[–] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 20 points 3 days ago (1 children)
[–] Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

The sheer market share that forces websites develop for chrome for maximum visibility, to force websites to allow their content to be scraped to be usable by the average user.

[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 4 points 3 days ago

What allows them to buy chrome is ridiculous investment money, not what they're charging. From what I read, I think they're still running a loss because required processing power is still just so insanely ridiculous for AI.

[–] Zier@fedia.io 25 points 3 days ago

How to kill Chrome faster, make it AI only. LOL!!!

[–] cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone 25 points 3 days ago (1 children)

don't they already have brave for that?

[–] madis@lemm.ee 6 points 3 days ago (4 children)
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[–] Fenrir@lemmings.world 18 points 2 days ago

Validating my years old decision to use Firefox

[–] scarabic@lemmy.world 13 points 2 days ago

When a company considers buying Chrome because it could help them extend the reach of their product, they are fucking drunk and need to go home. This would be like buying the state of Nevada so you could put up billboards all over Las Vegas.

[–] uawarebrah@sh.itjust.works 13 points 3 days ago

This can't happen. Not because I think google is doing a wonderful job, but it's got serious market share now. Basically a monopoly. It needs to leave the hands of for profit companies and be transitioned to a foundation.

[–] FrameXX@discuss.tchncs.de 13 points 3 days ago

Chrome or Chromium project?

[–] msage@programming.dev 13 points 3 days ago

Isn't Google going to do it themselves?

[–] ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net 11 points 3 days ago

WTF? Just download it for free.

[–] futatorius@lemm.ee 6 points 2 days ago

And if you thought there was some natural end point to enshittification, here's your evidence that there's no such thing.

[–] rippersnapper@lemm.ee 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I’ve said this before and will say it again. The only tech companies that should be allowed to buy Chrome are Canonical and its equivalents.

[–] simsalabim@lemmy.world 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Isn't Canonical up to some crummy schemes, too?

[–] crimsonpoodle@pawb.social 3 points 2 days ago

Sure but not by at least an order of magnitude

[–] futatorius@lemm.ee 3 points 1 day ago

Well, killing off Chrome would probably be a good thing.

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