Chrome has been downloading a 4GB Gemini Nano LLM file named weights.bin under the OptGuideOnDeviceModel directory on devices that meet certain hardware requirements. Manual deletion triggers Chrome to treat it as a temporary error and fully restore the file automatically at the next opportunity.

A Swedish computer scientist and lawyer argues the practice breaches Article 5(3) of the EU ePrivacy Directive by placing data without clear, informed user consent and conflicts with GDPR requirements for transparent and lawful data handling. Because Chrome operates normally without the model, Google cannot claim necessity to bypass consent rules.

Users can prevent the download only by disabling the relevant AI flag in chrome://flags, applying enterprise policy controls, or removing Chrome from their system. Google has rolled out a setting allowing users to turn off and remove the model directly in Chrome settings, which stops future downloads once disabled.

Distributing the 4GB model to 100 million–1 billion devices consumes an estimated 24–240 GWh of energy and emits 6,000–60,000 tonnes of CO₂. In regions with metered connections, a single 4GB transfer can exhaust a user’s monthly mobile data budget, potentially incurring extra charges.