If you’ve been paying attention to Google lately, you know that it wants us to use its AI tools. So much so that Chrome apparently downloads a 4GB file containing the details of how to use Gemini Nano, the LLM on Google’s device. Computer scientist Alexander Hanff published the information earlier this week on his website The Privacy Guy and goes into great detail as to why this is bad for Google.
I just confirmed what he said about the file, named “weights.bin” and I found it in the Chrome folder in the MacOS Library directory (which is usually hidden so that users don’t confuse it with potentially sensitive files). Indeed, it’s a 4+ GB file that he said it would be. Hanff rightly notes that at no point does Chrome tell users to ask if they’d like to install Gemini Nano weights, Chrome users of AI-powered features like “help me write” and on-device scam detection.
Google provided the following statement to Engadget after this story was originally published:
“We gave the Gemini Nano Chrome from 2024 as a lightweight, compact model. It enables important security capabilities such as fraud detection and developer APIs without sending your data to the cloud. Although this requires some space on the desktop to work, the model will automatically download if the device has low resources. In February, we began rolling out the ability for users to easily turn off and remove a model directly from Chrome’s settings. If disabled the model will no longer download or update. More details in our help center title.”
It is worth noting that on the second Mac I tested, the weights.bin file was not installed, nor was it found on my colleague’s laptop. Shortly after updating Chrome to version 148.0.7778.97 on my laptop, a directory and file appeared. And when I removed the directory containing the file from the first computer I tested, the large weights.bin file returned a few minutes later.
Hanff wrote that he saw similar behavior in all Windows installations, too. “User deletes, Chrome reloads, user deletes again, Chrome reloads. The only ways to make the deletion stick is to disable Chrome’s AI features via chrome://flags or an enterprise policy tool that home users don’t normally have, or to uninstall Chrome entirely.”
It is important to note that Hanff seems to have missed a specific option to remove Google pointing to its settings. If you go to Chrome settings and click “program” in the left side menu, there is a toggle to turn off the on-device AI features.
Additional problems that Hanff cites include that this may violate European privacy laws, including the GDPR. There are also potential environmental costs. Hanff estimates that the “in-band” deployment of this 4GB file will reach 500 million devices, or about 15 percent of Chrome users. That pressure would result in 30,000 tonnes of CO2e – the annual emissions of 6,500 cars. He also notes that this is only the initial cost of delivery and that many additional items can make energy costs higher.
Update, May 6, 2026, 1:35PM ET: This story has been updated with a statement from Google noting that Chrome has offered a way to disable on-device AI tools since February.
