• Did Chrome Just Install a Massive AI Model on Your Device Without Telling You? Yes, Probably

    From anon@noreply@mixmin.net to alt.privacy.anon-server,misc.phone.mobile.iphone,alt.comp.os.windows-11,comp.internet.services.google on Thu May 21 21:37:25 2026
    From Newsgroup: alt.privacy.anon-server

    A 4GB file called weights.bin may be sitting on your hard drive right
    now, put there by Chrome without your knowledge.

    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.

    <https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/did-chrome-just- install-a-massive-ai-model-on-your-device-without-telling-you-
    yes-probably/>
    --- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2