As the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) moves forward with an antitrust case aimed at curbing Google’s dominance in the search engine market, Mozilla, the nonprofit organization behind Firefox, has raised alarms over the potential consequences. Mozilla’s chief financial officer, Eric Muhlheim, testified on Friday that if the proposed measures are implemented — especially the dismantling of Google’s Chrome browser — it could lead to Mozilla’s financial collapse, ultimately threatening the future of Firefox.
The core of Mozilla’s concern lies in its longstanding partnership with Google, which pays to be the default search engine on Firefox. This deal accounts for around 85% of Mozilla’s income and 90% of the revenue for its for-profit subsidiary, which supports the broader Mozilla Foundation. Without this revenue, Mozilla would have to make significant cuts to its product engineering efforts, including scaling back development on Firefox itself.
Muhlheim warned that such financial reductions could trigger a “downward spiral,” where Firefox’s appeal diminishes, potentially leading to its failure. This, in turn, would impact Mozilla’s wider mission, which includes advancing open-source tools and initiatives focused on using AI to address climate change.
“If this funding disappears, we would need to make substantial cuts,” Muhlheim said, highlighting the risks to both Firefox and the nonprofit’s broader goals. He added that such a scenario would strengthen the very market dominance that the regulators are trying to break up.
During cross-questioning, Judge Amit Mehta asked Muhlheim if Mozilla would benefit from having another company that could match Google’s search quality. Muhlheim responded affirmatively, suggesting that a world with more competition in search could actually be better for Mozilla.
While some companies involved in the Google antitrust trial have expressed interest in acquiring Chrome, Mozilla has not. Instead, it continues to warn that, while the regulators aim to address one monopoly, they risk undermining the only remaining independent browser engine — Gecko — which has played a crucial role in keeping the web open and interoperable. Unlike Google’s Chromium or Apple’s WebKit, Gecko is owned by a nonprofit, helping to maintain diversity in the internet ecosystem.
