"Listening to our community, alongside our ongoing commitment to offer choice, led us to build AI controls."
Starting with Firefox 148, which rolls out on Feb. 24, you'll find a new AI controls section within the desktop browser settings. It provides a single place to block current and future generative AI features in Firefox... This lets you use Firefox without AI while we continue to build AI features for those who want them...
At launch, AI controls let you manage these features individually:
— Translations, which help you browse the web in your preferred language.
— Alt text in PDFs, which add accessibility descriptions to images in PDF pages.
— AI-enhanced tab grouping, which suggests related tabs and group names.
— Link previews, which show key points before you open a link.
— AI chatbot in the sidebar, which lets you use your chosen chatbot as you browse, including options like Anthropic Claude, ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini and Le Chat Mistral.
You can choose to use some of these and not others. If you don't want to use AI features from Firefox at all, you can turn on the Block AI enhancements toggle. When it's toggled on, you won't see pop-ups or reminders to use existing or upcoming AI features. Once you set your AI preferences in Firefox, they stay in place across updates... We believe choice is more important than ever as AI becomes a part of people's browsing experiences. What matters to us is giving people control, no matter how they feel about AI.
If you'd like to try AI controls early, they'll be available first in Firefox Nightly.
Some context from The Register
It's a refreshingly unsubtle stance, and one that lands just days after a similar bout of AI skepticism elsewhere in browser land, with Vivaldi's latest release leaning away from generative features entirely. CEO Jon von Tetzchner summed up the mood, telling The Register: "Basically, what we are finding is that people hate AI..." Mozilla's kill switch isn't the end of AI in browsers, but it does suggest the hype has met resistance.
When it comes to AI kill switches in browsers, Jack Wallen writes at ZDNet that "Most browsers already offer this feature. With Edge, you can disable Copilot. With Chrome, you can disable Gemini. With Opera, you can disable Aria...."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Bloomberg calls it "a move that will let users query AI chatbots through its vehicle interface for the first time."
The company is working to support the apps in CarPlay within the coming months, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plan hasn't been announced. The change marks a strategic shift for Apple, which until now has only allowed its own Siri assistant as a voice-control option within its popular vehicle infotainment software. With the move, AI providers such as OpenAI, Anthropic PBC and Alphabet Inc.'s Google will be able to release CarPlay versions of their apps that include a voice-control mode...
The company also has launched a higher-end version of the platform, CarPlay Ultra, that lets drivers control functions like seat adjustments and climate settings directly through Apple's software. But that system is rolling out slowly and must be customized for each automaker. That means it's likely to be a niche offering.
The article notes that Tesla is now working to support Apple's CarPlay.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
England 48-7 Wales
Earl, Roebuck and Freeman also score tries for hosts
No surprises here, not even a hint of one. England have had tougher training sessions in preparation for this Six Nations and by the end the scoreboard spoke for itself. Wales were not so much beaten as buried beneath an avalanche of seven white tries including a first-half hat-trick for the pacy Bath winger Henry Arundell on his first England start since the 2023 World Cup.
If not quite as big a rout as England’s 68-14 win in Cardiff 11 months ago, the flashing red warning lights were visible from the moment the visitors had two players sent to the sin bin in the first quarter. They never looked like recovering and, in its own way, this disappointment will sting as much as the 73-0 defeat by South Africa in November.
Continue reading...
europeanspaceagency posted a photo:
Crew members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission arrived on Friday 6 February 2026 at NASA's Launch and Landing Facility located at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
Strapped into the SpaceX Dragon Freedom, the crew of four will launch into orbit on top of a Falcon 9 rocket not earlier than Wednesday 11 February. Their destination is the International Space Station, where they will work and live for up to nine months.
From left to right: ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot and NASA astronauts Jessica Meir.
Credits: ESA - S.Corvaja
europeanspaceagency posted a photo:
Crew members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission arrived on Friday 6 February 2026 at NASA's Launch and Landing Facility located at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
Strapped into the SpaceX Dragon Freedom, the crew of four will launch into orbit on top of a Falcon 9 rocket not earlier than Wednesday 11 February. Their destination is the International Space Station, where they will work and live for up to nine months.
Credits: ESA - S.Corvaja
europeanspaceagency posted a photo:
Crew members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission arrived on Friday 6 February 2026 at NASA's Launch and Landing Facility located at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
Strapped into the SpaceX Dragon Freedom, the crew of four will launch into orbit on top of a Falcon 9 rocket not earlier than Wednesday 11 February. Their destination is the International Space Station, where they will work and live for up to nine months.
From left to right: ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot and NASA astronauts Jessica Meir.
Credits: ESA - S.Corvaja