[mittensc]

> Mozilla is focused on deploying its roughly $1.4 billion worth of reserves to support “mission driven” organizations, according to a new report.

> The nonprofit, also the parent of Firefox, is investing in artificial intelligence startups that are working on safety and governance issues in AI.

Why?, they want to go bankrupt?, do they like burning money?

I would understand investing in AI Tech... Brilliant if they use Mozilla contributors.

I would understand but investing in other startups... with due diligence and something that might make a difference

> that are working on safety and governance issues in AI.

what... why... what the hell... that's governments job, not mozillas...

[crystal_revenge]

> that's governments job

Why do people take these AI "safety" research projects at face value? The real reason you need AI that is "safe" and "governable" is so that when you start having it promote advertisers content or support the current administration, you don't have to worry about it going "off the rails" and promoting a competing product to criticizing the administration.

I'm sure plenty of researchers in this space also believe they are working for the good of humanity, but I suspect the real am is much more practical and perfectly aligned with the business interests of all the companies sponsoring this type of work.

[storus]

We currently can't do "AI safety" even in bleeding edge alignment research so investing into some startups in that area is just burning money. Current LLMs/ViTs have non-zero probability of producing something unsafe and it's their inherent trait.

[madeofpalk]

Uh, I mean, I think we've seen first hand that generally one aspect of safety we want is to not produce sexualised images of children.

[al_borland]

> promote advertisers content ... promoting a competing product

Where is the value of AI when the responses are compromised like this? I could say the same thing about Google Search, which is one of the reasons I stopped using it.

Are we betting on the masses not caring that they're being lied to for profit?

[observationist]

They want NGO grant money. They look at the latest and greatest buzzwords for government policy spending and tailor their efforts towards acquiring that money, 99% of which will go to salaries and bonuses, 1% of which will be spent on the mission du jour.

Mozilla is a deeply corrupt and failed organization.

[anderson10002]

They're already an NGO who gives out grant money. When you say 99% will go to salaries and bonuses, you know all the financials are right there on the page right?

[rrr_oh_man]

> Mozilla is a deeply corrupt and failed organization.

Can you elaborate?

[trolleski]

But compromised Mozilla's solution will then be passed as 'independent' so that a corrupt government can accept it without officially kneeling to BigTech. Publicity stunt a'la foundation.

[port11]

That kind of reserves, invested wisely, would net enough interest to pay for a decently sized team maintaining Firefox and small AI bids. Of course I’m just an idiot on the internet, not the CEO of a behemoth.

[mrdependable]

I assumed they meant data governance.

[sdellis]

Except that government, at least in the U.S., is not doing their job. This administration doesn't want to regulate AI.

[noo_u]

Whether or not it is the government's job is to be regulating a specific thing is not as straightforward of an issue as it may seem.

[dralley]

The charitable entity known as the Mozilla Foundation and the development entity known as the Mozilla Corporation are not the same. Nothing wrong with the foundation doing these things with their spare cash, it literally does not impact Firefox at all.

[dotBen]

The concern, I think, is that their spare cash is dwindling and thus financial prudence might be beneficial - especially for those who rely on the core Mozilla propositions like Firefox.

[poszlem]

That’s one interpretation. Another is that people typically support foundations not simply because they “do good,” but because they advance a specific cause the donor personally values. For example, if I donated to a foundation focused on developing cancer treatments, and that same foundation later shifted its efforts to addressing melting ice caps, I would likely feel frustrated, since that was not the purpose for which I chose to support it, and I don't really care that both actions "do good" in the world.

[pseudalopex]

Mozilla's AI investment strategy is more than Mozilla Foundation spending spare cash.[1]

[1] https://stateof.mozilla.org/ledger/