Chrome is staking a claim on your personal resources

Memory is a scarce resource, and giants like Google know this better than anyone. Perhaps that's why the company is hogging your local storage instead of its own servers, making customers furious.

Installing a 4GB AI model without your permission

Google Chrome is installing a 4GB on-device Gemini Nano model on user devices without so much as informing them, let alone seeking their permission. Gemini Nano powers browser features such as text rephrasing, scam warnings, and organizing tabs.

While Google's documentation notes it may download generative AI models in the background to ensure these features work, doing so without explicit consent raises serious privacy, environmental, and legal questions, especially under European Union laws.

Out of the blue

The download happens entirely behind the scenes. There's no opt-in toggle in Chrome Settings for to such a download. It is triggered when the browser's AI features are enabled, which they are by default in recent Chrome versions.

The model is downloaded to any device that meets the hardware requirements.

The file is called weights.bin and can be located in a folder called OptGuideOnDeviceModel, per That Privacy Guy. If you delete it, Chrome downloads it again.

To banish it for good, you must disable Chrome's AI through the hidden chrome://flags settings or enterprise management tools, if your hardware was issued by your organization. The more extreme method is to uninstall Chrome.

While Windows users first flagged the issue when they saw their storage filling up for no reason, this isn't an isolated glitch. Technical evidence suggests the update structure was deliberately designed to seek out eligible devices and download AI models without alerting users.

Users have been noticing this behaviour for over a year, though it has now evolved into something bigger. With Chrome having a 64% browser share and a user base of over 3.4 billion, this problem is now affecting millions of devices, not just power users.

Google's defense

Google maintains that Gemini Nano is automatically uninstalled if a device lacks sufficient resources, such as processing power, RAM, and storage space. The company also claims that users can turn off and remove the model in settings, after which it won't be downloaded again.

 

Of course, the question is why it was installed in the first place, even for users who don't use AI.

Another concerning issue is the presence of the AI Mode pill in the address bar in Chrome. Most users would assume that AI Mode utilizes the 4GB on-device model, even though it sends queries to Google's servers.

On one hand, Google is creating the impression that it wants AI processing to happen locally. On the other hand, AI Mode routes queries to Google Cloud, with the on-device model sitting untapped as a possible future resource for Google's ecosystem.

Through the unconsented download, Google has left open the possibility of using your device instead of its servers, saving on costs.