Mozilla Trials AI-Based Search Feature in Firefox

Mozilla has started experimenting with an AI-based search functionality powered by Perplexity within Firefox. According to Windows Report, some users have noticed a message in the address bar in version 139 of the browser.

Users are prompted to utilize the Perplexity search engine when they attempt to make a query. This suggestion appears as a pop-up notification. Users are also given the option to opt-out of the testing.

Unlike conventional search engines like Google or DuckDuckGo, Perplexity employs artificial intelligence to aggregate information from various sources, delivering a single comprehensive answer to user queries.

This move may indicate that Mozilla is searching for an alternative to Google, which has been the primary search engine in Firefox for many years and contributes a significant portion of the company's revenue. Whether the trial with Perplexity will evolve into a full-fledged partnership remains uncertain. Currently, Bing, DuckDuckGo, and Wikipedia are also available in the browser.

It is worth noting that earlier in May, Mozilla indicated that Firefox could cease to exist without an agreement with Google. The company's CFO, Eric Mühlheim, stated that legal decisions regarding Google's monopoly in the search engine market threaten the browser's existence.

According to unconfirmed reports, Google pays the browser developers about $400 million annually for the right to be the default search engine. Mühlheim had previously mentioned that the agreement accounts for approximately 85% of Firefox's revenue.