In a nutshell: Mozilla is seemingly on a journey to change the internet again, but it will not get there with Firefox. The open-source browser is barely mentioned throughout the company's latest corporate manifesto, where AI algorithms have become the real focus of the show.
In the recently published State of Mozilla for 2023, the open-source foundation made some bold statements about its plans for the future. The organization aims to build a better internet "by the people, for the people," countering the overwhelming influence of Big Tech corporations with open data and AI services.
The updated State of Mozilla is essentially designed to be a company manifesto written in corporate lingo but it also comes with the latest financial statements related to 2022 results, providing some interesting food for thought about how and where the organization is spending its money.
Mozilla's CEO, Mitchell Baker, received a substantial compensation increase, as stated in the document, going from $5,591,406 (2021) to $6,903,089 in 2022. Baker mentioned that the organization is clearly moving in the right direction but needs to do more and have a larger impact on the market.
While the CEO is raking in millions of dollars for her "vision," Mozilla's overall results have actually dropped between 2021 and 2022. Total revenues went from $600 million to $593 million, the foundation noted. The Firefox browser, which continues to be Mozilla's main offering to internet users, experienced a substantial market share decline during the same timeframe, dropping from 3.79 percent (2021) to 3.04 percent (2022).
Mozilla's CEO is being paid a lot more while Firefox keeps losing users, and someone has suggested that the organization's plan is now to fully transition away from the open-source browser. Mozilla is increasing its pile of financial assets, and Baker has clearly stated that the organization is ready to make "difficult choices" when it comes to shutting down unprofitable projects.
So, what future is Mozilla trying to build for itself and internet users? The foundation is pushing the idea of a trustworthy AI, improved ML algorithms with rich data, and privacy prioritization. Mozilla still wants to put people ahead of profit, the company's CEO said, but also take more risks and move quickly in the growing AI market.