Mozilla downsizes, refocuses on Firefox and AI after interim CEO shakeup
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Mozilla is downsizing and refocusing efforts on Firefox and AI products after installing a new interim CEO. They plan to scale back investment in several other products like their VPN, Online Footprint Scrubber, Hubs, and mastodon instance.
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The downsizing will affect around 60 employees. This comes after Mozilla expanded its product portfolio in recent years while Firefox kept losing market share.
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Mozilla will shut down Hubs, its 3D virtual world launched in 2018, after demand has shifted away from 3D virtual worlds outside of gaming and select other use cases.
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Mozilla will consolidate some roles in the People org and other support services to right-size given the lower headcount budget going forward.
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Mozilla will bring together the teams working on Pocket, Content, and AI/ML to focus on bringing trustworthy AI into Firefox. This is seen as a key opportunity after the Fakespot acquisition.