{"id":71797,"date":"2023-03-31T08:25:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-31T15:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/?p=71797"},"modified":"2023-03-31T08:26:44","modified_gmt":"2023-03-31T15:26:44","slug":"mark-surman-mozilla-25-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/mozilla\/mark-surman-mozilla-25-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Making the impossible possible \u2014 again"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Looking ahead at Mozilla\u2019s next quarter century<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the world of tech, some challenges can feel impossible to solve. That was the feeling many of us had 25 years ago \u2014 before we\u2019d heard of Mozilla. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was one of those people who\u2019d been excited by the openness and creativity of the web from the first moment I saw it. And, in turn, I was also one of those people who was sad (and maybe even angry) when Microsoft tried to lock the web down inside its Internet Explorer monopoly<\/a>. By the late 90s, the web had become broken and banal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it launched on March 31, 1998<\/a>, Mozilla set out a bold goal: rally a community to create an open-source browser that would turn the tide, putting the web back in the hands of people everywhere. Breaking a monopoly with people power seemed like an impossible task. Yet, over the course of five years, this is exactly what the Mozilla community did with Firefox. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Mozilla turns 25 today, it feels like we\u2019re in a similar spot \u2014 and that Mozilla and its community are being called to make the impossible possible, again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The internet gives most of us a big sense of joy and connection. It\u2019s where we connect with friends and family. It’s where we laugh. It\u2019s where we fall in love. Yet, as the internet has fallen back into the hands of a few big companies over the last decade, it\u2019s also started to grate on many of us. It feels more and more like someone else is in control of our online lives. And, in many ways they are. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shifting this trajectory \u2014 pushing things in a more trustworthy, competitive, and vibrant direction again \u2014 can feel impossible. It\u2019s a big, daunting task. But as someone who still believes the internet can be a force for empowerment and human connection, it\u2019s a task we need to tackle. And I\u2019m somewhat optimistic. We\u2019ve done it before. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I think about Mozilla\u2019s next 25 years, I think about doubling down on the playbook that worked the first time: gathering a community of people who want to make the impossible possible. Diving into the world of trustworthy AI over the last few years, I\u2019ve met many such people \u2014 thinkers and builders and inventors and dreamers who want AI to look dramatically different.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

People like Anne Kim<\/a>, CEO of Secure AI Labs<\/a> (SAIL), which uses AI to advance medical research \u2014 but also protect patient privacy. Anne\u2019s work is about harnessing the power of AI without<\/em> making compromises. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

People like Deb Raji, who started the Mozilla Open Source Audit Tooling (OAT) Project<\/a>. Deb is shepherding AI audits from a theoretical concept to an actual discipline, like auto emissions tests and food inspections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

People like Pelonomi Moiloa, co-founder of Lelapa AI<\/a>. Pelonomi and Lelapa are building AI that\u2019s made for Africans by Africans: their needs, their devices, their languages. It\u2019s a local and thoughtful approach to building technology. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And people like Kasia Chmielinski, co-founder of The Data Nutrition Project<\/a>, which interrogates the quality of datasets that train AI.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are all people who I\u2019ve been lucky enough to meet recently through Mozilla. They are realistic about the challenges ahead. But they also know it’s worth rolling up their sleeves and doing something about it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That part \u2014 the community of people with purpose rolling up their sleeves \u2014 is very much like what happened 25 years ago. What\u2019s different is that Anne, Deb, Pelonomi, Kasia and so many other people like them that I have met are building their own products and projects. And have their own communities. Collectively, they are working on something much more powerful than a single open source project. They are creating a wave of ideas and tech that could push the internet \u2014 including AI \u2014 in a dramatically different direction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my view, this is key to making the impossible possible again. If we want to push things in a different direction in this next era, we need more than one or two new products like Firefox \u2014 we need a wave. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This thinking drives what we\u2019re doing in Mozilla\u2019s current product development (looking for many products to advance our Manifesto<\/a>). It\u2019s what spurred us to start Mozilla Ventures<\/a> (we\u2019ve invested in Anne and Pelonomi\u2019s companies) and Mozilla.ai<\/a> (Kasia is a product specialist here). And, it\u2019s what\u2019s behind the movement building work<\/a> that we do through our advocacy and philanthropy programs (Deb is one of our fellows). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On our 25th anniversary (today!), it\u2019s important to recognize that Mozilla has a proud history. But it\u2019s even more important to look to the future: to envision an internet that is a better and more inclusive place in 25 years than it is today. I am deeply committed to supporting and connecting people around the world who want to make this vision come to life. As we look to the future, this is the most important work that Mozilla can do. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Looking ahead at Mozilla\u2019s next quarter century In the world of tech, some challenges can feel impossible to solve. That was the feeling many of us had 25 years ago \u2014 before we\u2019d heard of Mozilla.  I was one of those people who\u2019d been excited by the openness and creativity of the web from the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":340,"featured_media":71799,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30710,5],"tags":[4708,464183],"coauthors":[311642],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMaking the impossible possible \u2014 again<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"25 years ago Mozilla set out a bold goal: rally a community to create an open-source browser that would put the web back into people's hands.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.mozilla.org\/en\/mozilla\/mark-surman-mozilla-25-years\/\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" 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