Chrome was found to silently install 4GB of Gemini Nano AI model on users' computers without being explicitly notified. This Gemini Nano model allows several features such as Help Me Write and fraud detection to be performed directly on the device instead of in the cloud.
In a statement issued yesterday, Google said that this feature has been enabled since 2024 by making it easier to remove Gemini Nano on devices under development. Users can now uninstall this AI model through the On Device AI settings and turn it off so that it is not downloaded again.
Google also said that the software has a feature to delete this AI model when it detects that the user's device storage is getting smaller. The installation of the Gemini Nano model on Chrome was unexpected. But on Pixel devices and several other Android devices, this model is already available to run some AI features without sending data to the cloud first.
