Mozilla’s Firefox adds Perplexity’s AI answer engine as a new search option (techcrunch.com)

Mozilla is rolling Perplexity — an AI “answer engine” — into Firefox as an optional search provider on desktop worldwide, with mobile support coming in the months ahead. After pilot tests in the U.S., U.K. and Germany, Firefox users can now switch to Perplexity from the unified address-bar search button or set it as their default in settings. Unlike traditional link lists, Perplexity delivers conversational answers with sourced citations, and Mozilla says positive feedback drove the broader rollout. The move is significant because it brings AI search to an established browser without forcing users into a new, AI-first product: users choose whether to use AI-powered responses or stick with Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, etc. Technically, the integration emphasizes cited, conversational retrieval rather than ranking raw links, and Mozilla highlights Perplexity’s privacy stance (no selling/sharing of personal data) as a likely factor. Mozilla also reiterated plans to add more AI answer engines over time, and separately pushed browser profiles to all users and continues testing Google Lens visual search — signaling a modular approach to embedding AI features while preserving user choice and privacy.