Google Chrome Is Downloading a 4GB AI Model Onto Your Device Without Consent, Researcher Warns

Source Domain: gizmodo.com

Security researcher Alexander Hanff reported that Google Chrome has been quietly storing an on-device AI model called Gemini Nano without explicit user consent.
The stored AI model, which can occupy around 4GB of space, is found in a folder named OptGuideOnDeviceModel, with the main file being weights.bin.
Google Chrome does not offer any prompt to agree to install themodel nor provides an opt-out or removal option, but it can be manually deleted although it will redownload the next time Chrome restarts.
Google clarified that this model is used for on-device security features like scam detection and developer APIs, and that a feature to turn off and remove it was introduced in February.
Although not new, this discovery has caused renewed discussions in various online communities about the presence and management of this AI model.
Users can check for this AI model by entering “chrome://on-device-internals” in their Chrome browser; they can also opt out via the Chrome settings menu if available.
Workarounds exist to prevent automatic re-download, such as disabling AI-related features through “chrome://flags” or changing the file permissions of weights.bin.
Removing the AI model from Chrome may cause some browser functionality to malfunction, and will disable all associated AI-powered features.

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