Mozilla is expanding its opt-in AI browsing feature, Smart Window, in Firefox with new capabilities that pull current web information into chat responses and offer better tools for sorting through browsing history. The feature now includes a partnership with Exa that lets AI chats draw from up-to-date web data and display source links in replies. Smart Window can also suggest tab groups automatically and show visual previews of previously visited pages when users search their history using natural language.
In a live demonstration, the AI was able to sort through selected links in a user’s browsing history to find items like running shoes viewed the previous week, pulling up images from the websites that had been visited. The suggested tab groups can also identify and close duplicate tabs, helping users keep track of what matters. Instead of primarily generating new search results, the AI focuses on organizing content users have already seen, adding citations for results sourced through Exa.
Mozilla’s blog post announcing the update says these features can help users verify answers or find their place again, particularly when they remember what was on a page but not which specific page they visited. Beta testers reported that the feature helped them maintain their train of thought, according to Mozilla. Future updates will bring Chrome-like surfacing of recent browsing journeys and AI-powered autofill for online forms.
Smart Window remains an opt-in beta feature, and Mozilla’s head of Firefox, Ajit Varma, said in an interview that there is no precise date for when it will leave beta. The feature was initially announced last year as “AI Window,” a browsing mode with natural language search across open tabs and history. Since then, Mozilla added an AI Controls section in Firefox settings, letting users disable all AI features or choose which ones to keep active.
Varma said Mozilla is taking an “agnostic” approach to AI, offering features like Smart Window for those who want them without forcing them on all users. He contrasted this with other browser makers, saying they may be focused on generating more chat queries, while Mozilla is focused on the browser and user experience. Users can select which AI model powers Smart Window, including Google’s Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite, OpenAI’s oss-gpt-120b, Alibaba’s Qwen3-235B-A22B-Instruct-2507, or their own local AI models.
Varma noted that offering local and regional AI options supports digital sovereignty, allowing users to choose models from companies that may have different views than major tech firms. Firefox AI senior staff product manager Steve Truong said the available models operate under zero-data-retention contracts, meaning third-party providers process user prompts in memory and do not store data for training, advertising, or human review. Truong added that Mozilla itself does not retain user chats on its servers without permission, and does not use them for model training, human review, or advertising.
Varma said Mozilla wants to make it easy for users to get Firefox into the state they prefer without being prescriptive about how AI should work, recognizing the company’s role as a neutral party on the internet. This user-first approach includes changes based on feedback, such as adding a top navigation bar in Smart Window after users requested it. The feature is currently available to beta users in the United States, with no announced timeline for a wider rollout.
