Mozilla, the nonprofit organization best known as the parent of the Firefox browser, is positioning itself as a counterweight to the growing concentration of power in the global artificial intelligence industry. Drawing on roughly $1.4 billion in financial reserves, the organization is backing what it describes as a loose coalition of “mission-driven” startups and technologists working to make AI more transparent, open, and accountable.
At the center of this effort is Mark Surman, Mozilla’s president, who has framed the strategy as a modern version of the organization’s long-standing role as an industry outsider. Mozilla previously challenged Microsoft’s dominance of web browsers in the early 2000s and later pushed back against platforms controlled by Apple and Google. Today, Surman argues, the same dynamic is emerging in AI.
“It’s that spirit that a bunch of people are banding together to create something good in the world and take on this thing that threatens us,” Surman said in an interview.
Investing in trustworthy AI
Mozilla’s approach combines philanthropy, venture capital, and product development. Through Mozilla Ventures, launched in 2022 with an initial $35 million commitment, the organization has invested in more than 55 companies, including dozens of AI startups focused on governance, safety, and open-source tools. Mozilla has also launched Mozilla.ai, an in-house effort aimed at building practical, trustworthy AI systems.
This strategy places Mozilla at a significant financial disadvantage compared with industry leaders such as OpenAI and Anthropic, which have raised tens of billions of dollars and command valuations in the hundreds of billions. Major technology companies are simultaneously investing heavily in data centers, talent, and proprietary infrastructure, reinforcing what critics describe as a “winner-takes-all” market.
Surman cautioned that even when large firms support open-source projects, their ultimate objective remains market dominance. “They will eat you if you’re not careful,” he said.
A fragmented but growing ecosystem
Several Mozilla-backed founders say there is a real, if informal, ecosystem of smaller AI companies seeking an alternative path. Anna Spitznagel, co-founder of German AI governance startup Trail, said Mozilla’s support has opened opportunities to collaborate on open-source frameworks, though she is cautious about the “rebel” label. “I want to be part of the revolution that actually enables us to deploy AI and not hinder it,” she said.
Similar views were echoed by founders of Transformer Lab and Oumi, both Mozilla portfolio companies building open-source AI development platforms. Oumi CEO Manos Koukoumidis, a former Google engineer, said large technology firms are “taking a lot of shortcuts” on safety, while smaller teams lack the resources to compete at scale without collaboration.
Playing the long game
Mozilla’s push also unfolds against a complex political backdrop, with U.S. policymakers emphasizing rapid AI deployment to maintain global competitiveness. Despite these pressures, Surman remains focused on the long term. By 2028, Mozilla aims to help build an open-source AI ecosystem that is economically viable and widely adopted by developers.
“There is an alternative that’s real and is emerging,” Surman said. “It’s a lot of small pieces that add up to that alternative.”
For Mozilla, the bet is that openness, once central to the growth of the web, can still shape the future of artificial intelligence.
