How to Disable the New AI-powered Tab Groups in Firefox

These days, companies are completely oblivious as to what their users and customers want, and in the case of Firefox, Mozilla has once again misread the room and added a feature no one wants. In this case, they have added AI-powered tab groups, which also happen to dramatically increase CPU usage and, therefore, battery usage. Thankfully, at this point in time, the feature is still optional, so follow along as we show you how to disable it.

Is this Feature a Privacy Risk?

The latest major release, Firefox 141.0, introduces an AI-powered “Smart Tab Grouping” system. This feature automatically organises similar tabs into groups and even suggests names for them. It uses a locally run machine learning model to perform the grouping, which Mozilla describes as an experimental capability being rolled out gradually.

The problem is that this feature is coming at a steep performance cost. Multiple Reddit threads and bug reports have documented a new “Inference” process that can spike CPU usage from almost nothing to well over 100 percent on multi-core systems. These spikes can also increase power draw, cause fans to spin up, and drain laptop batteries much faster than normal. In some cases, users noticed the process running even when they were not actively interacting with the browser or its tabs.

Mozilla developers have acknowledged “abnormal CPU spikes” in the feature’s bug tracker, noting that such behaviour should not occur under normal conditions. While the company appears determined to fix the problem, the rollout continues. But people are annoyed that resources are being spent on integrating AI into trivial browser tasks instead of focusing on stability, performance, or long-requested quality-of-life improvements.

Thankfully, the AI runs locally and does not send your tabs or data to Mozilla, which means it can operate without an internet connection and without exposing your browsing history. That said, no one wants their browser consuming more CPU and battery for a feature they never asked for or find value in.

How to Disable AI-powered Tab Groups in Firefox

Here's how to disable AI-powered tab groups in Firefox. If you don't see these options the feature might not have rolled out to you yet, so you're safe. For now.

• In the address bar, type about:config and press Enter.
• Accept the warning to proceed.
• Search for the setting browser.tabs.groups.smart.enabled.
• Double-click the entry to change its value from true to false.
• Restart Firefox to stop the AI “Inference” process from running.

For those who want to turn off other AI features as well, you can search for browser.ml.chat.enabled in about:config and set it to false. This acts as a broader switch for AI capabilities beyond tab grouping.

You can also remove any AI models Firefox may have downloaded by going to about:addons, checking the Extensions section, and removing entries related to AI or tab grouping. This is optional, but it ensures no local model files remain in case the feature is re-enabled in a future update.