Even if you aren’t using Google Gemini, it might be using your device. Security researcher Alexander Hanff, also known as “That Privacy Guy,” recently reported that Google’s widely used Chrome web browser is quietly storing an on-device AI model without explicitly asking for user permission. According to Hanff, Chrome secretly stashes about 4GB of AI model files on Chrome users’ devices (though it should be noted that many users have been unable to find the file). The reported model is stored in a folder called OptGuideOnDeviceModel. The largest part of that folder is a file called weights.bin. Hanff claims that the weights are for Gemini Nano, Google’s lighter-weight, on-device version of its large language model. Per the researcher’s findings, the Nano model is installed on any device that meets the minimum hardware requirements to host it. Google Chrome reportedly does not offer any prompt for the user to affirmatively agree to install the model, nor is there any setting to opt out or remove the files.…