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Mozilla is building an AI 'rebel alliance' to take on OpenAI, Anthropic

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Re: Mozilla is building an AI 'rebel alliance' to take on OpenAI, Anthropic

#71

Post by bjord »

j-bos wrote: post #55
dralley wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that there is no way to make Firefox economically sustainable without Google (or some other search provider, but google won that war comprehensively). Browsers are fully commoditized and subsidized. Funding the browser with a combination of outside revenue sources and search deals is the way everyone does it.

> Mozilla is focused on deploying its roughly $1.4 billion worth of reserves to support “mission driven” organizations, according to a new report. Back of the envelope math says that's worth 50-70 million dollars a year, taking into account inflation. A cracked developer is worth 1/2 a million per year, both of Mozilla's core offerings are OSS so benefit from free code contributions. Is that not enough for a dozen hi…

what is the math you're doing, exactly?

also, I don't think a dozen devs is enough to support a competitive browser

anyway, companies are far(!) from just devs

Re: Mozilla is building an AI 'rebel alliance' to take on OpenAI, Anthropic

#72

Post by bossyTeacher »

Mozilla has great ideas but just because YOU have a great idea it does not mean that you are the best entity to implement it. Mozilla is going to bankrupt itself by spending an excessive proportion of its money on moonshots. They would have way more impact if they redirected all that money into a great browser AND educating normies about privacy. Like way bigger impact.

Right now, Mozilla keeps fighting wars it cannot win.

Re: Mozilla is building an AI 'rebel alliance' to take on OpenAI, Anthropic

#73

Post by pseudalopex »

dralley wrote: post #23
mittensc wrote: post #10

> Mozilla is focused on deploying its roughly $1.4 billion worth of reserves to support “mission driven” organizations, according to a new report. > The nonprofit, also the parent of Firefox, is investing in artificial intelligence startups that are working on safety and governance issues in AI. Why?, they want to go bankrupt?, do they like burning money? I would understand investing in AI Tech... Brilliant if they u…

The charitable entity known as the Mozilla Foundation and the development entity known as the Mozilla Corporation are not the same. Nothing wrong with the foundation doing these things with their spare cash, it literally does not impact Firefox at all.

Mozilla's AI investment strategy is more than Mozilla Foundation spending spare cash.[1]

[1] https://stateof.mozilla.org/ledger/

Re: Mozilla is building an AI 'rebel alliance' to take on OpenAI, Anthropic

#74

Post by burningChrome »

PlatoIsADisease wrote: post #40

Conspiracy theory time? Conspiracy theory time. I think the trillion dollar companies have enough money, they can hire people as 'plants'. Okay, before this is marked as crazy talk: Historically this has happened, this isnt a new invention. A company needs to survive, not be ethical. Using third parties give plausible deniability. I look at the atrocious state of LibreOffice, and I'm pretty sure someone from Microsof…

Co‑opetition?

Some have used the term "Strategic accommodation".

Interesting you bring this specific Mozilla/Google example up since this is the closet thing to seeing this happen in real time:

https://www.opensourceforu.com/2025/09/court-ruling-secures-...

"Courts and press have noted that Mozilla relies heavily on Google’s search‑default payments, which keep Firefox viable. Recent antitrust proceedings have wrestled with whether (and how) to restrict these payments: a judge ultimately allowed Google to continue non‑exclusive payments to distribution partners like Mozilla while barring exclusivity and some tying/bundling—an outcome many observers said preserved Mozilla’s “lifeline” without materially threatening Google’s core position. That is textbook co‑opetition coupled with what many would call strategic accommodation."

Re: Mozilla is building an AI 'rebel alliance' to take on OpenAI, Anthropic

#75

Post by bossyTeacher »

dralley wrote: post #27
wolvoleo wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes please let them focus on making Firefox economically sustainable without Google. Then worry about all the fluffy dogood stuff

The problem is that there is no way to make Firefox economically sustainable without Google (or some other search provider, but google won that war comprehensively). Browsers are fully commoditized and subsidized. Funding the browser with a combination of outside revenue sources and search deals is the way everyone does it.

If it focused JUST on Firefox and appealed to the privacy conscious tech community which is relatively small but wealthy, they could make it sustainable via a combination of open source support and donaitons imo.

Re: Mozilla is building an AI 'rebel alliance' to take on OpenAI, Anthropic

#79

Post by observationist »

mittensc wrote: post #10

> Mozilla is focused on deploying its roughly $1.4 billion worth of reserves to support “mission driven” organizations, according to a new report. > The nonprofit, also the parent of Firefox, is investing in artificial intelligence startups that are working on safety and governance issues in AI. Why?, they want to go bankrupt?, do they like burning money? I would understand investing in AI Tech... Brilliant if they u…

They want NGO grant money. They look at the latest and greatest buzzwords for government policy spending and tailor their efforts towards acquiring that money, 99% of which will go to salaries and bonuses, 1% of which will be spent on the mission du jour.

Mozilla is a deeply corrupt and failed organization.

Re: Mozilla is building an AI 'rebel alliance' to take on OpenAI, Anthropic

#80

Post by pseudalopex »

dotBen wrote: post #31
dralley wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The charitable entity known as the Mozilla Foundation and the development entity known as the Mozilla Corporation are not the same. Nothing wrong with the foundation doing these things with their spare cash, it literally does not impact Firefox at all.

The concern, I think, is that their spare cash is dwindling and thus financial prudence might be beneficial - especially for those who rely on the core Mozilla propositions like Firefox.

Mozilla's assets increased again in their most recent financial statement.[1] Investing in AI startups will have high risk however.

[1] https://stateof.mozilla.org/pdf/Mozilla%20Fdn%202024%20-%20A...

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