Google Chrome Silently Downloads 4GB Gemini Nano Model, Reinstalls It After Deletion
Updated
Updated · Malwarebytes Labs · May 12
Google Chrome Silently Downloads 4GB Gemini Nano Model, Reinstalls It After Deletion
4 articles · Updated · Malwarebytes Labs · May 12
Chrome has been automatically placing a 4GB Gemini Nano file—stored as weights.bin in the OptGuideOnDeviceModel folder—on devices it deems powerful enough, with no consent prompt or notification.
The model supports on-device features such as “Help me write,” scam detection and a Summarizer API, and some of those AI tools are enabled by default in recent Chrome versions.
Hanff said deleting the file does not solve the issue because Chrome downloads it again, raising concerns for users on capped or costly connections who absorb the storage, bandwidth and power costs.
At a hypothetical 1 billion users, Hanff estimated the downloads alone would consume 240 gigawatt-hours of energy and produce 60,000 tons of CO2 equivalent.
He also argued the practice could clash with EU ePrivacy and GDPR transparency rules, while noting Chrome’s prominent address-bar AI Mode still sends queries to Google’s cloud rather than using the local model.
Your browser downloaded a 4GB AI model without asking. Who truly controls your device?
Is on-device AI a privacy lie when key features still send your data to the cloud?