Google Chrome is reportedly downloading a 4 GB Gemini Nano model onto user PCs without consent, prior information, or any way for less technical users to discover it independently. Alexander Hanff reported that Google Chrome installs a 4 GB Gemini Nano model locally without user consent, and that the browser downloads and installs the local Artificial Intelligence model automatically, without any user input.
Google Chrome initiates this process by creating an ‘OptGuideOnDeviceModel’ folder, which contains a ‘weights.bin’ file that is exactly 4 GB. This file is used for Google’s Gemini Nano model, which handles on-device scam detection, Artificial Intelligence-assisted writing, and other tasks. The entire process takes about 15 minutes to complete, all without the user’s knowledge.
Google Chrome automatically scans your device to assess whether it can run local Artificial Intelligence models and only triggers the download when Artificial Intelligence features are active. There is no specific checkbox in the browser settings indicating a 4 GB local Artificial Intelligence model download. Users who deleted this 4 GB model found that Google Chrome redownloaded it repeatedly, continuing the cycle.
The reported ways to prevent or disable the download are to disable Chrome’s Artificial Intelligence features through the ‘chrome://flags’ settings, use enterprise policy settings in an organization, or uninstall Chrome to stop the automatic downloads.
