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AI at Melbourne Colloquium Series - The Open Web at a Crossroads: AI, Power and the Fight for an Internet Worth Having

Register here
Will AI kill the internet? Join Laura Chambers, Board Director of Mozilla Corporation as she draws on her 25 years of Silicon Valley experience to explore the most pressing questions facing the web today.
21/07/2026 11:30am 1:30pm

Melbourne Connect, The Studio (Ground Floor)

The Open Web at a Crossroads: AI, Power, and the Fight for an Internet Worth Having

The internet was supposed to be the great empowerer and equaliser for humanity: A decentralised, open platform where anyone and everyone can learn, publish, connect, and build. But today, AI is reshaping the web faster than any technology since the browser itself, and the stakes are high.

In this keynote, Laura Chambers (former CEO of Mozilla Corporation and current Board Director) draws on her 25 years of Silicon Valley experience to explore the most pressing questions facing the web today.

AI COLLOQUIUM LAURA CHAMBERS MOZILLA BANNER

Will AI kill the internet as we know it, disrupting its economics and further concentrating power in the hands of a few? What happens when the browser stops being a window and starts becoming an agent, acting on your behalf, holding your data, and shaping your decisions and spend? What risks is Mozilla watching most closely: bias, opacity, privacy erosion, and the capture of the AI stack by BigTech? And what can we learn from Mozilla's own AI journey, including the landmark collaboration with Anthropic, using their frontier Mythos model to find and fix hundreds of long-hidden security vulnerabilities inside Firefox, some sitting undetected for 15 to 20 years?

This talk weaves together technological analysis, organisational and market dynamics, and public-interest advocacy to argue that the open internet is not inevitable - it requires constant, intentional defence.

 

Event Agenda

11:30am - 12:30pm  |  Keynote Presentation and Q&A

12:30pm - 1:30pm  |  Networking and refreshments TBC 

 

About the Speaker

Laura Chambers, Board Director and Former CEO of Mozilla Corporation

Laura Chambers is a Board Director and recent CEO of Mozilla Corporation. She has been at the forefront of Mozilla's navigation of the AI era, investing in their key product (Firefox) while balancing the organisation's commitment to an open, private, and user-controlled web with the practical demands of integrating AI. Laura spent 25 years in Silicon Valley, including senior roles at Airbnb, PayPal, Skype and eBay, leading market and product innovation during periods of rapid change. Laura holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts/Commerce degree from the University of Melbourne.