Google Chrome silently downloads a 4GB AI model, researchers warn
techMay 7, 202623145
Google Chrome downloaded a 4 GB Gemini Nano on-device AI model into a folder named OptGuideOnDeviceModel on users' machines without explicit opt-in. The model is stored as weights.bin at %LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome\User Data\OptGuideOnDeviceModel, and Chrome provides no user opt-out other than enterprise management tools. You can disable it by toggling Optimization Guide On Device Model at chrome://flags, restarting Chrome, and deleting the folder. Security and privacy researchers say the silent 4 GB install raises consent and local-storage concerns, magnifies energy and carbon costs at billion-device scale, and could conflict with EU privacy rules.
![Screenshot of the article, saying:
"Two weeks ago I wrote about Anthropic silently registering a Native Messaging bridge in seven Chromium-based browsers on every machine where Claude Desktop was installed [1]. The pattern was: install on user launch of product A, write configuration into the user's installs of products B, C, D, E, F, G, H without asking. Reach across vendor trust boundaries. No consent dialog. No opt-out UI. Re-installs itself if the user removes it manually, every time Claude Desktop is launched.
This week I discovered the same pattern, executed by Google. Google Chrome is reaching into users' machines and writing a 4 GB on-device AI model file to disk without asking. The file is named weights.bin. It lives in OptGuideOnDeviceModel. It is the weights for Gemini Nano, Google's on-device LLM. Chrome did not ask. Chrome does not surface it. If the user deletes it, Chrome re-downloads it."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:vchtpxx46fmaywuoeyo6xsaw/bafkreifbzwelttfm6kken2caq7in74bccsryvytxwrcy7ujnvlhkeslcwq)
3 sources
gizmodo.comGoogle Chrome Is Downloading a 4GB AI Model Onto Your Device Without Consent, Researcher Warnsthatprivacyguy.comGoogle Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device without consent. At a billion-device scale the climate costs are insane. — That Privacy Guy!benchmark.rsGoogle Chrome krišom instalira 4 GB veliki AI model na računar, bez dozvole i mogućnosti da ga korisnik obriše