TL;DR: Mozilla has a new CEO and a new mission: transform Firefox into an AI browser. That has run into some snags, as Firefox users don’t seem that interested in AI. Mozilla is forging ahead, utilizing deceptive patterns (previously known as dark patterns) to nag and annoy people into enabling AI features. You can see this in the introduction of Link Previews, an extremely invasive anti-feature that exists solely to push AI into your experience.
The AI part was made optional. That doesn’t mean they didn’t try.
They create an AI feature, they realise people don’t want it, and realise a minimal one they can turn on for everyone in a thin-end-of-the-wedge approach.
OR
They create a feature with AI, realise it’s controversial, so they figure out a minimal version, they split the parts with and without AI, and enable the non-controversial one by default.
The facts are the same, just a different narrative. Which is legitimate. Realizing that’s what it is is non optional.