Mozilla’s Firefox 141 introduced Smart Tab Grouping, an AI-powered tool designed to help users organize tabs locally without compromising privacy. The feature suggests group names and identifies related tabs, but user reports indicate it consumes excessive CPU resources, leading to faster battery drain and increased fan noise. Tests have also shown that its tab detection and title suggestions can be inaccurate.
The issue appears to stem from the Inference process running continuously in the background rather than only when triggered, or from poor optimization. Although the feature is disabled by default and rolling out gradually, affected users can turn it off via Firefox’s about:config settings.
Some Firefox fans argue the tool benefits heavy tab users, while others prefer manual organization for accuracy. Privacy advocates appreciate that it operates entirely on-device, but stress the importance of keeping such AI tools optional. Mozilla has been urged to refine the feature before broader release to prevent performance issues.
Read more...