Google Preps Your Computer For AI

In the rush to enhance their search tool with artificial intelligence capabilities, Google had recently been criticized for silently downloading a 4GB file to users of its popular Chrome web browser.  This file, “weights.bin,” is a model to enable AI-assisted browser functions. An investigative blog by Alexander Hanff confirms that this huge file is downloaded without any explicit user consent due to the “On-Device AI” option being enabled by default in Chrome. Even if you delete the file, it re-downloads itself. If you don’t want it, you have to manually disable that feature within Chrome by hitting the three-dot menu button > Settings > System > On-Device AI. Hanff argues that this behavior likely runs afoul of the European Union’s GDPR data regulations. He also estimates this is unapproved downloading across just a fraction of Chrome’s 3+ billion users generates the equivalent annual carbon dioxide emissions of 13,000 cars. A spot check of our lab computers hasn’t turned up the offending weights.bin file yet, but I happen to use Edge as my default browser. It’s unclear if the file download is still rolling out, or if there is something making our machines ineligible. Either way, if you are running low on storage space or don’t anticipate using Chrome’s AI features, it’s worth disabling the “On-Device AI” setting now.