20 Aug 2026

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The Mozilla Blog: A New Framework for Open Source AI

Open or closed AI isn't a fringe question anymore; it's a live policy debate, with real consequences for who gets to build, audit, and compete in the AI ecosystem. But as that debate plays out in Washington, Brussels, and beyond, the harder questions are still very much up for discussion. What does meaningful openness actually require? Where should the guardrails sit? And who gets a say in setting them?

That's exactly the gap a group of us set out to close two years ago.

Back in 2024, Mozilla and the Columbia Institute of Global Politics brought together more than 40 researchers, builders, and policy experts for the Columbia Convening on Openness and AI. The goal was simple to state, but hard to do: figure out what "open" actually means once you're talking about foundational models rather than traditional software, and build a shared vocabulary that researchers, developers, policymakers, and civil society could all work from.

The convening was the start of a years-long effort to turn a room full of perspectives on openness into something durable and useful for developers, builders, and policymakers alike. Recently, that effort reached a new milestone: Communications of the ACM published "Unpacking Open Source AI: Toward a Framework for Openness in Foundation Models," which I co-authored alongside a host of other allies spanning academia, industry, and civil society.

The paper outlines a framework that does something the open source AI debate badly needs. It stops treating "open" as a single switch you flip on or off. Instead, it breaks the AI stack down into its component parts - data, code, model weights, documentation, and more - and looks at how openness at each layer shapes who actually gets to inspect, use, and build on a system. That kind of specificity matters. A lot of the current policy debate treats open source AI as a monolith, when in reality the details of what gets shared (and how) are what determine whether openness delivers on its promise of safety, competition, and accountability.

A few of the framework's ideas are worth pulling out. First, it treats openness as a gradient rather than a binary. A system can be open on weights while remaining closed on training data, or open on code while offering little documentation on how it was evaluated. The framework offers language to describe that mix precisely, instead of lumping it under one vague label. Second, it argues that safety can't be assessed at the model level alone: what matters just as much is the surrounding system - the deployment environment, the safeguards, the moderation layers, and governance structures. That's because a model's real-world risk profile is shaped by all of it together, not by the weights in isolation. Critically, the framework deliberately stops short of prescribing one "correct" level of openness for every system. Instead, it gives developers, researchers, and regulators a common vocabulary to make and evaluate those tradeoffs on a case-by-case basis.

It's worth pausing on who's behind this work. Scroll through the author list, and you'll find a genuine cross-section of the individuals and organizations contributing to moving the development of open systems forward. It's a collection of people who've spent years arguing, in good faith and often across real disagreements, that open approaches can be a foundation for safer, more democratic, more accountable AI. That's the same spirit that drove the original convening, and it's what makes this paper a genuinely important milestone for our mission to make AI systems accessible to the many, rather than the few.

You can read the full paper here.

The post A New Framework for Open Source AI appeared first on The Mozilla Blog.

20 Aug 2026 3:57pm GMT

Firefox Add-on Reviews: Extension starter pack

You've probably heard about "ad blockers," "tab managers," "anti-trackers" or any number of browser customization tools commonly known as extensions. And maybe you're intrigued to try one, but you've never installed an extension before and the whole notion just seems a bit vague.

Let's demystify extensions.

An extension is simply an app that runs on a browser like Firefox. From serious productivity and privacy enhancing features to fun stuff like changing the way the web looks and feels, extensions give you the power to completely personalize your browsing experience.

Addons.mozilla.org (AMO) is a discovery site that hosts thousands of independently developed Firefox extensions. It's a vast and eclectic ecosystem of features, so we've hand-picked a small collection of great extensions to get you started…

I've always wanted an ad blocker!

uBlock Origin

Works beautifully "right out of the box." Just add it to Firefox and uBlock Origin will automatically start blocking all types of advertising - display ads, banners, video pre-rolls, pop-ups - you name it.

Of course, if you prefer deeper content blocking customization, uBlock Origin allows for fine control as well, like the ability to import your own custom block filters or access a data display that shows how much of a web page was blocked by the extension. More than just an ad blocker, uBlock Origin also effectively thwarts some websites that may be infected with malware.

For more insights about this excellent ad blocker, please see uBlock Origin - everything you need to know about the ad blocker, or to explore even more ad blocker options, check out What's the best ad blocker for you?

I'm concerned about my privacy and tracking around the web

Privacy Badger

The flagship anti-tracking extension from privacy proponents at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Privacy Badger is programmed to look for tracking heuristics (i.e. specific actions that indicate someone is trying to track you).

Zero set up required. Just install Privacy Badger and it will automatically search for third-party cookies, HTML5 local storage "supercookies," canvas fingerprinting, and other sneaky tracking methods.

Consent-O-Matic

Not only will Consent-O-Matic automatically handle pop-up data consent forms (per GDPR regulations), but it's brilliantly designed to interpret the often intentionally confusing language of consent pop-ups trying to trick you into agreeing to invasive tracking.

Developed by internet privacy researchers at Aarhus University in Denmark who grew sick of seeing so many deceptive consent pop-ups, Consent-O-Matic's decision-making logic is built upon studying hundreds of pop-ups and identifying duplicitous patterns. So using this extension not only gives you a great ally in the fight against intrusive tracking, but you're spared the annoyance of constantly clicking consent forms all over the internet.

I need an easier way to translate languages

Simple Translate

Do you do a lot of language translations on the web? If so, it's a hassle always copying text and navigating away from the page you're on just to translate a word or phrase. Simple Translate solves this problem by giving you the power to perform translations right there on the page.

Just highlight the text you want translated and right-click to get instant translations in a handy pop-up display, so you never have to leave the page again.

YouTube your way

Enhancer for YouTube

Despite offering dozens of creative customization features, Enhancer for YouTube is easy to grasp and gives you a variety of ways to radically alter YouTube functionality.

Once the extension is installed you'll find an additional set of controls just beneath YouTube's video player (you can even select the extension features you want to appear in the control bar).

Key features include…

I'm drowning in browser tabs! Send help!

OneTab

You've got an overwhelming number of open tabs. You can't close them. You need them. But you can't organize them all right now either. You're too busy. What to do?!

If you have OneTab on Firefox you just click the toolbar button and suddenly all those open tabs become a clean list of text links listed on a single page. Ahhh serenity.

Not only will you create browser breathing room for yourself, but with all those previously open tabs now closed and converted to text links, you've also freed up a bunch of CPU and memory, which should improve browser speed and performance.

If you've never installed a browser extension before, we hope you found something here that piques your interest to try. To continue exploring ways to personalize Firefox through the power of extensions, please see our collection of 100+ Recommended Extensions.

20 Aug 2026 1:16am GMT

Firefox Add-on Reviews: YouTube your way — browser extensions put you in charge of your video experience

YouTube wants you to experience YouTube in prescribed ways. But with the right browser extension, you're free to alter YouTube to taste. Change the way the site looks, behaves, and delivers your favorite videos.

Enhancer for YouTube

With dozens of customization features, Enhancer for YouTube has the power to dramatically reorient the way you watch videos.

While a bunch of customization options may seem overwhelming, Enhancer for YouTube actually makes it very simple to navigate settings and select just your favorite features. You can even choose which of your preferred features will display in the extension's easy access interface that appears just beneath the video player.

Key features…

Enhancer for YouTube provides feature controls just beneath the video player.

Return YouTube Dislike

Do you like the Dislike? YouTube removed the display that reveals the number of thumbs-down Dislikes a video has, but with Return YouTube Dislike you can bring back the brutal truth.

"Does exactly what the name suggests. Can't see myself without this extension. Seriously, bad move on YouTube for removing such a vital tool."

Firefox user OFG

"i have never smashed 5 stars faster."

Firefox user 12918016

YouTube High Definition

Though its primary function is to automatically play all YouTube videos in their highest possible resolution, YouTube High Definition has a few other fine features to offer.

In addition to automatic HD, YouTube High Definition can…

YouTube NonStop

So simple. So awesome. YouTube NonStop remedies the headache of interrupting your music with that awful "Video paused. Continue watching?" message.

Works on YouTube and YouTube Music. Now you're free to navigate away from the YouTube tab for as long as you like and never worry about music interruption again.

YouTube Screenshot Button

If you take a lot of screenshots on YouTube, then the aptly titled YouTube Screenshot Button is worth your time.

You'll find a "Screenshot" button conveniently located on the control panel of videos, or at the top of the screen on Shorts (or you can use custom keystrokes), so it's always easy to snap a quick shot. Set preferences to automatically download screenshots as JPEG or PNG files.

Unhook: Remove YouTube Recommended Videos & Comments

Instant serenity for YouTube! Unhook strips away unwanted distractions like the promotional sidebar, end-screen suggestions, trending tab, and much more.

More than two dozen customization options make this an essential extension for anyone seeking escape from YouTube rabbit holes. You can even hide notifications and live chat boxes.

"This is the best extension to control YouTube usage, and not let YouTube control you."

Firefox user Shubham Mandiya

PocketTube

If you subscribe to a lot of YouTube channels PocketTube is a fantastic way to organize all your subscriptions by themed collections.

Group your channel collections by subject, like "Sports," "Cooking," "Cat videos," etc. Other key features include…

PocketTube keeps your channel collections neatly tucked away to the side.

AdBlocker for YouTube

It's not just you who's noticed a lot more ads lately. Regain control with AdBlocker for YouTube.

The extension very simply and effectively removes both video and display ads from YouTube. Period. Enjoy a faster, more focused YouTube.

SponsorBlock

It's a terrible experience when you're enjoying a video or music on YouTube and you're suddenly interrupted by a blaring ad. SponsorBlock solves this problem in a highly effective and original way.

Leveraging the power of crowd sourced information to locate where - precisely - interruptive sponsored segments appear in videos, SponsorBlock learns where to automatically skip sponsored segments with its ever growing database of videos. You can also participate in the project by reporting sponsored segments whenever you encounter them (it's easy to report right there on the video page with the extension).

SponsorBlock can also learn to skip non-music portions of music videos and intros/outros, as well. If you'd like a deeper dive of SponsorBlock we profiled its developer and open source project on Mozilla Distilled.

We hope one of these extensions enhances the way you enjoy YouTube. Feel free to explore more great media extensions on addons.mozilla.org.

20 Aug 2026 1:10am GMT