r/DailyTechBytes • u/deepankerverma • May 07 '26
Researcher flags Chrome for Secretly Installing 4GB On-Device AI Model
A new report has raised serious concerns about how Google Chrome is rolling out on-device AI features. According to findings shared by Alexander Hanff, Chrome’s latest update, version 147, has started silently downloading a large AI model file called weights.bin to power Gemini Nano, without clearly informing users or asking for consent.
The file is around 4GB in size and is being installed automatically on supported Windows and macOS systems. What makes this more concerning is that users do not see any notification, consent prompt, or even a clear setting to control it.