this post was submitted on 20 Jan 2026
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Fuck AI
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AI, in this case, refers to LLMs, GPT technology, and anything listed as "AI" meant to increase market valuations.
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I am talking about the search itself
Yes, the "show AI" toggle you set in the search is saved as part of your cookie. Any website setting will be reset if you cookie is wiped.
For the record, this is specifically because DuckDuckGo doesn't want to store any information about you, so everything gets handled client side. That means they have no way to tell that you are the same person unless you're using the same client with the same cookies.
Basically, DuckDuckGo forgets because it was built to be forgetful. That's how respecting privacy works.
This is likely the problem indeed OP.
FWIW Cookies were once a way for websites to store preferences and logged-in sessions, but they were easily abused for tracking as well. Protecting your privacy by deleting cookies deletes those preferences and sessions generally too, including the ai setting. IMHO ai enabled being the default is a shit idea, but I guess there’s little choice here.