rear install Mozilla, the organization behind the Firefox browser that took on a new interim CEO earlier this month, is making some big changes to its product strategy, TechCrunch has learned.
Specifically, Mozilla plans to scale back investments in a number of products, including VPN, Relay, and, somewhat surprisingly, Online Footprint Scrubber, which was released just a week ago. Mozilla will also shut down hub3D virtual world it launched Back in 2018, Mozilla.Social Mastodon instance. The layoffs affect approximately 60 employees.Bloomberg previously reported Fired.
The company said in an internal memo that Mozilla will now focus on “bringing trusted AI to Firefox.” To that end, we’re bringing together teams working on Pocket, Content, and AI/Ml.
Mozilla began expanding its product portfolio in recent years, but its flagship product, Firefox, continued to lose market share. And although the organization was often harshly criticized for this, its leaders argued that Mozilla’s long-term survival needed to diversify its product portfolio beyond Firefox. After all, Firefox provided the majority of Mozilla’s revenue, but it also meant that the organization was essentially dependent on Google to continue the deal. With these changes, Mozilla may refocus on Firefox, which will no doubt make many die-hard Firefox fans very happy.
The full text of the internal memo is below:
reduction in investment Mozilla.Social: and Mozilla.Social, we made a big bet in 2023 to build a safer, better social media experience based on Mastodon and Fediverse. Our initial approach was based on the belief that Mozilla needed to scale quickly to effectively shape the future of social media. It was a noble idea, but it was difficult to execute.while securing resources Mozilla.Social We put a lot of effort into pursuing this ambitious idea, but in retrospect, a more modest approach would have allowed us to enter the field with much more agility. The actions we’re taking today are making this strategic correction, joining the Mastodon ecosystem through much smaller teams, and more quickly bringing small-scale experiments to those who choose to live on Mastodon. It will be. Mozilla.Social Illustration.
Protected Experiments and Identity (PXI): We are reducing investments in some standalone consumer products in the security and privacy space. We are reducing investments in market segments that are crowded with competitors or in which it is difficult to offer differentiated products. Specifically, we plan to reduce investments in VPNs, relays, and online footprint scrubbers. We continue to invest in products that meet customer needs in growing market segments.
hub: Since the beginning of 2023, we have experienced changes in the 3D virtual world market. Demand is moving away from 3D virtual worlds, except for gaming, education, and some niche use cases. This is impacting everyone in the industry. Hubs’ user and customer base is not robust enough to justify continuing to devote resources to the headwinds of adverse changes in demand. We will reduce our services and provide you with an appropriate termination plan.
Right-sizing your talent team
As MozProd continues to downsize and reduce staffing budgets, some roles have been integrated into the Human Resources and other Support Services organization to ensure we can provide the appropriate level of support for our product portfolio. Optimize and focus your organization.In 2023, generative AI began to rapidly change the industry landscape. Mozilla seized the opportunity to build trusted AI into Firefox, primarily through its acquisition of Fakespot and subsequent product integration work. Additionally, finding great content remains an important use case for the Internet. So, as part of today’s changes, we’re integrating Pocket, Content, and the AI/ML teams that support it into Firefox Organizations. Details of specific organizational changes will be announced soon. Within MozProd, there are no changes within MDN, Ads, or Fakespot. Additionally, there are no changes to legal/policies, finance and business operations, marketing, or strategy and operations.