Did Chrome Just Install a Massive AI Model on Your Device Without Telling You? Yes, Probably
Key takeaways
- Security researcher Alexander Hanff flagged the silent rollout, which affects eligible devices running recent versions of Chrome and offers no consent screen, no pop-up and no setting to straightforwardly prevent it.
- The mysterious file in question is Gemini Nano, an AI model that runs on devices such as smartphones and laptops rather than in the cloud.
- Hanff said Gemini Nano will only be installed if the device meets the hardware requirements.
You didn't install it. You weren't asked. You may not have even known it was there. But if you use Google Chrome on a desktop computer, there's a reasonable chance that a 4GB AI model called Gemini Nano is sitting on your hard drive right now, placed there automatically by Chrome sometime between late April and early May 2026. Security researcher Alexander Hanff flagged the silent rollout, which affects eligible devices running recent versions of Chrome and offers no consent screen, no pop-up and no setting to straightforwardly prevent it. Privacy advocates say the practice may violate European data law. Here's how to check your machine -- and remove the file, at least temporarily.
The mysterious file in question is Gemini Nano, an AI model that runs on devices such as smartphones and laptops rather than in the cloud. According to Alexander Hanff, a Swedish computer scientist and lawyer known as That Privacy Guy, it's been installed on some people's Chrome browsers without permission. You won't know when it's been downloaded onto your device, either.
Hanff said Gemini Nano will only be installed if the device meets the hardware requirements. It's unknown how many people have gotten the install.