Google Chrome 'silently' downloads 4GB AI model to your device without permission, report claims — researcher says practice may violate EU law, waste thousands of kilowatts of energy

A security researcher says Google Chrome is silently downloading a roughly 4GB on-device AI model for Gemini Nano on eligible machines.

The file may be re-downloaded after deletion unless users change experimental flags or uninstall Chrome, with no clear prompt or easy opt-out.

Critics say the practice could violate EU transparency and storage rules under the ePrivacy Directive and GDPR.

They also warn that rolling this out at scale could waste bandwidth, storage, energy, and add avoidable emissions.