Imagine a world with no Firefox. That could be our future — and not because people stopped using it, but because of a major legal battle in the US, reports UNB.
Mozilla, the non-profit behind Firefox, just dropped a bombshell: If Google is forced to break up its business, Firefox might not survive. Why? Because Google pays Mozilla to be the default search engine on Firefox, and that deal covers 85% of Mozilla's revenue!
"If we lose that funding, we'd have to make massive cuts," said Mozilla's CFO Eric Muhlheim. That means fewer engineers, slower updates, and possibly the end of Firefox as we know it. And it's not just about the browser — Mozilla's open-source and climate tech projects would also take a hit.
This comes as the US government tries to rein in Google's dominance, possibly by forcing it to sell off its Chrome browser. But Mozilla warns: "You might break one monopoly, but you'll kill the competition with it."
Here's the twist: Firefox runs on its own browser engine called Gecko — the only one not controlled by a tech giant. If it disappears, the entire internet becomes even more dependent on Google and Apple.
Judge Amit Mehta asked if a world with stronger search engines would help. Mozilla's answer? Absolutely. But until that world exists, losing the Google deal could be fatal.
No Google. No Firefox. No real choice online.
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