Incredibly unpopular opinion: Mozilla might be correct to spend time and resources focusing on AI. The cat is out of the bag and providing data-safe, secure access to models to head off handing the keys to the future of the software industry to OpenAI ...
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Incredibly unpopular opinion: Mozilla might be correct to spend time and resources focusing on AI. The cat is out of the bag and providing data-safe, secure access to models to head off handing the keys to the future of the software industry to OpenAI / Microsoft / Google / Meta is not inherently a bad thing.
I think it should have spent time and resources *also* focusing on the fediverse, though.
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Johannes Ernstreplied to Ben Werdmuller last edited by
@ben Disagree The Fediverse is browser-adjacent. There are amazing things one could do if one put "social" support into the browser, particularly in a privacy-protecting manner. It's made for Mozilla whose major product is a market-share-losing browser.
AI is not browser-adjacent, and it's unclear what Mozilla can do as an org that others can't do just as well or better. Also, it requires major number of billions to compete, and Mozilla can't raise those.
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Ben Werdmullerreplied to Johannes Ernst last edited by
@j12t I think Mozilla is implicitly (or explicitly!) saying that it's not a browser org anymore, and that they want to broaden the scope of what they cover.
What I imagine Mozilla is building - though I don't know - is something akin to a *new* browser. What is the Firefox of learning models? I don't think that's inherently bad, in a world where almost every org is looking at using LLMs - and it doesn't require the billions that building and supporting bespoke models might.
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Johannes Ernstreplied to Ben Werdmuller last edited by
@ben Mozilla has a successful track record of building products that aren't the browser of exactly zero.
Not for a lack of trying. Remember Persona? IoT version 1, 2 and 3? Mobile OS? .... All of them were easier than successfully building a post-browser browser.
Of course you may be right, they may try this like they tried the above. With, I would expect, the same outcome: lots of wasted scarce cash, and nothing to show.