Chrome downloads a 4GB AI file without user consent, researcher alleges

If you've paid any attention to Google lately, you know that it wants us using its AI tools. Computer scientist Alexander Hanff published the details earlier this week on his website The Privacy Guy and goes into extreme detail on why this isn't a good look for Google. I just verified what he said about the file, named weights.bin Indeed, it's a 4+ GB file right where he said it would be. Hanff correctly notes that at no point does Chrome prompt users to ask if they'd like to install the Gemini Nano weights, which Chrome users for AI-powered features like help me write and on-device scam detection.