You probably didn’t request an AI model on your computer, but you might have received one regardless. Google Chrome has been placing a 4GB model onto devices without seeking user consent or providing any notification.
According to Alexander Hanff, a Swedish computer scientist and lawyer known as That Privacy Guy, Google has been installing Gemini Nano — an AI model designed to operate on devices like smartphones and laptops rather than in the cloud — onto some users’ Chrome browsers without their permission. Furthermore, Google does not alert users that the model is present on their device after installation.
Hanff noted that Gemini Nano will only be installed if the user’s device meets the necessary hardware specifications. The exact number of affected users remains unclear.
Gemini Nano handles tasks such as identifying scam phone calls, assisting with text message composition, summarizing audio recordings, and analyzing screenshots from Pixel phones. It should not be confused with the AI Mode pill in the address bar. When using AI Mode, your queries are sent to Google Gemini servers — not to Gemini Nano.
A Google spokesperson told Gfaloe that Gemini Nano will automatically uninstall itself if the device lacks sufficient resources, such as processing power, RAM memory, storage space or network bandwidth.
«In February, we began rolling out the ability for users to easily turn off and remove the model directly in Chrome settings,» the spokesperson said. «Once disabled, the model will no longer download or update.»
Google provides more information about on-device generative AI models in Chrome on this web page.
If you’re running Chrome, you might have Gemini Nano. Go to your file manager — File Explorer (on Windows), Files (on Chromebooks), Finder (on Macs) — and search for a folder called OptGuideOnDeviceModel. In that folder, there will be a file called weights.bin, and that is where Gemini Nano lives.
Hanff said Chrome users will not know they have Gemini Nano unless they search for it, because «Chrome did not ask» and «Chrome does not surface it.»
If you want to get rid of Gemini Nano, there are a couple of ways. One is to uninstall Chrome entirely. The other way is to type «chrome://flags» into your browser address bar, then find «Enables optimization guide on device» and turn it off.
Why does it matter?
Hanff said the push might be intended to help Google cut costs by moving AI work off its own servers and onto your computer.
«Running inference on users’ own hardware allows them to push ‘AI features’ without the compute costs,» Hanff told Gfaloe.
But Hanff suggested there could be legal ramifications, at least in Europe. He suggested that the Gemini Nano install could constitute a breach of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation’s principles of lawfulness, fairness and transparency. Hanff said that, considering the potential environmental impacts, Google should have announced it under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive.
«Google has given us every reason not to trust them with a history spanning two decades of global privacy violations at massive scale,» Hanff told Gfaloe. «So, I suspect they figured asking permission (what the law requires) would hinder their ability to push this model and, of course, whatever comes after it.»
