Google Chrome is downloading a 4 GB Gemini Nano model onto users' machines without consent, with no opt-in, no opt-out short of enterprise tooling, and an automatic re-download every time the user deletes it. The pattern is identical to the Anthropic Claude Desktop case I wrote about last month, but the scale is between two and three orders of magnitude larger. This article does the legal analysis and, for the first time, the environmental analysis. The numbers are not small.
Sure, 4 GB times a billion is a lot, but regular internet use times a billion is a lot too.
You also download 4 GB of stuff when you download a typical computer game, stream a movie, or surf the web without ad block.
Since I’m opposed to opt-out AI use, I don’t like that it downloads a model preemptively, but I don’t think 4 GB is a big deal for climate impact when compared to normal computer use.
Sure, 4 GB times a billion is a lot, but regular internet use times a billion is a lot too.
You also download 4 GB of stuff when you download a typical computer game, stream a movie, or surf the web without ad block.
Since I’m opposed to opt-out AI use, I don’t like that it downloads a model preemptively, but I don’t think 4 GB is a big deal for climate impact when compared to normal computer use.