Mozilla is known for its Firefox browser. However, compared to rivals, it’s not as popular. The company is turning its attention back to Firefox and scaling back on standalone products, including Mozilla VPN, Relay, and Online Footprint Scrubber. Approximately 60 employees were laid off, and Mozilla will also run its mozilla.social Mastodon instance with a smaller team. Additionally, it will close down Hubs, its 3D virtual world, following the appointment of a new interim CEO.
According to an internal memo, Mozilla is focusing on infusing AI into Firefox to find great content. There are no changes for Mozilla VPN and Relay, and Mozilla Monitor Plus, which scrubs information from data broker sites, is separate from Online Footprint Scrubber and unaffected by the layoffs.
Mozilla VPN, Relay, and Monitor Plus subscribers have a potential silver lining as they are powered by partner companies and won’t go under if Mozilla shuts down its branded versions. Relay users can use DuckDuckGo’s unlimited email masks as an alternative, which is free and works similarly to Relay.
