#chrome

@Waxingtonknee@mastodon.org.uk · May 07, 2026

I am genuinely astounded by the number of posts I'm seeing screaming outrage at Google #chrome dumping a 4GB local ai on PCs without permission. That then follow it with "here is how to disable it". Seriously. Uninstall. Stop using Google services. Remove everything they do from your workflow. Show them how outraged you really are.

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James Scholes

@jscholes@dragonscave.space · May 07, 2026

An article has been published[1] explaining how to prevent #Chrome from downloading the #Gemini Nano model on #Windows via a Registry change. But it seems to me that such a method is only effective for as long as Google respects that policy in the Registry, doesn't change its name/path, etc. Instead, has anybody tried creating an empty weights.bin file in the relevant location[2], and then removing all permissions from that file so that Chrome can't read, write, replace, or do anything else with it? [1] https://pureinfotech.com/stop-chrome-gemini-nano-download-windows-11/ [2] %LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome\User Data\OptGuideOnDeviceModel #AI #LLM #LLMs

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Flipboard Tech Desk

@TechDesk@flipboard.social · May 07, 2026

If you're a Chrome user say goodbye to 4GB of your storage. Google has received criticism after it discreetly dowloaded Gemini Nano's model onto users devices without consent. Digital Trends has the details and how to turn it off. https://flip.it/g2hV6m How to turn the feature off. https://flip.it/k1I4E5 #Google #Chrome #AI #Gemini

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In reply to

ferricoxide

@ferricoxide@blahaj.zone · May 06, 2026

@tito_swineflu@sfba.social Yeah. And, I dunno about you, but I use multiple profiles to keep different browsing-contexts wholly separate from others. So… Fortunately, for the last year, the only time I use #Chrome is when I need to run #AWS's #FleetManager (it's basically unusable under #Firefox). So, only the one profile has the file, currently.

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Анна

@hannaB@social.vir.group · May 06, 2026

Chrome's memory bloat isn't a bug, it's a feature designed to keep ad trackers running. Manifest V3 isn't about protecting your privacy; it’s about Google locking down control over how ad-blockers work. The real security threat is Chrome itself. #chrome #privacy #manifestv3

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Lauren Weinstein

@lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org · May 05, 2026

BREAKING: [Why bother asking?] Google may have downloaded a 4GB AI model to your system without asking or permission Ah, the famous Google arrogance is back in full swing! Reports are pouring in that Google has silently (why bother asking or informing?) been downloading a 4GB local AI model to users as part of a Chrome browser update. While in theory local AI is better than spy-heavy cloud AI (Google warns that their conventional AI features send data to Google AND may be viewed by [oh-so-trustworthy?] humans), 4GB matters to a lot of people, especially on laptops with smallish SSDs. A typical Chromebook for example may only have 64GB total and a big chunk of that used by the OS! 128GB laptops are also common. It appears that not everybody has received this massive AI model file. It may only be downloaded when certain AI features are enabled. There are various ways to check for this and to disable this feature, mostly involving Chrome Settings->System and various Chrome internal settings that most users don't ever play with. One of my Linux systems doesn't seem to have this at all, while a browser on a new Mac Neo did, and I apparently gained about 4GB of additional free space as soon as I turned off the AI features that I never knew were turned on (since I never touch any of them -- and that's my recommendation to you as well). We're back to the dark days of Google philosophy. Don't bother asking, don't bother informing. Assume that 4GB doesn't matter to anybody. You need a time machine to find "Don't be evil" with Google anymore. A horrible shame. L #google #ai #chrome

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Matthew Malthouse

@calmeilles@mstdn.social · May 05, 2026

Having been part of a project attempting to measure the carbon footprint of serving web pages I can affirm that using the internet is not a trivial cost for the planet. https://www.thatprivacyguy.com/blog/chrome-silent-nano-install/ #AI #privacy #ePrivacy #Compliance #GDPR #Google #Chrome #Gemini #ESG #Environment #Sustainability #Climate #law

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AfterDawn

@afterdawn@mementomori.social · May 05, 2026

Chrome lataa nyt tietokoneelle 4 gigatavun paikallisen tekoälymallin - kysymättä lupaa tai ilmoittamatta asiasta Tiedosto latautuu itsestään kaikille tietokoneille sen kummemmin mitään ilmoittamatta, kunhan tietokone vain täyttää tietyt suorituskykyvaatimukset. Tekoälymalli-tiedoston poistaminen ei auta mitään, sillä selain lataa sen automaattisesti aina uudestaan. https://dawn.fi/uutiset/2026/05/05/chrome-lataa-automaattisesti-4-gb-tekoalytiedoston #chrome #tekoäly #ai #google #uutiset #teknologia #selain #tekniikka

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𝐀 || ᴸᵉᵃᵛᵉᴺᵒᵒⁿᵉᴮᵉʰⁱⁿᵈ

@hriday@troet.cafe · May 05, 2026

“Google #Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device.” - #privacy #firefox #ironfox #librefox #duckduckgo - #datenschutz

No consent No opt-out ui Reinstalls if removed manually

https://www.thatprivacyguy.com/blog/chrome-silent-nano-install/

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Rolle Laukkarinen

@rolle@mementomori.social · May 03, 2026

I got tired of constantly tweaking and fiddling with Ungoogled Chromium, which I've been using for years, so I finally switched to @brave@mastodon.social. Here, Incognito mode uses Tor, and vertical tabs work perfectly with full hiding. @Vivaldi@social.vivaldi.net would otherwise be my top choice, but it has some weird edge-case bugs, like the fact that not all extensions work in incognito mode. There are many good, minimal and private browsers available, but Google Meet or Netflix don't work on them (because of DRM and Widevine...) The sad truth is that most browsers are bloated crap. As a CSS person, I'm just not interested in the slow progress of Firefox-based browsers, I need latest web standards and something Chrome-based to use the modern web. Project Ladybird sounds interesting. They are writing the entire browser from the ground up, including the engine... pretty crazy stuff. I wish them luck and success. #Browsers #Brave #Chrome #Chromium #Privacy

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hbrpgm

@hbrpgm@adalta.social · Mar 24, 2026

📺 https://peer.adalta.social/w/3SpqHnubESrJ5pApez8TGK 🔗 🇩🇪🇺🇸🇫🇷 🔗 ℹ️

Während Google acht kritische Zero-Day-Lücken in Chrome schließt, offenbart der Hardware-Markt systemische Schwachstellen in der Lieferkette und Produkttransparenz.

#google #browser #chrome #kritisch #schwachstelle

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Chris Koester

@chris@olsberg.social · Mar 01, 2026

#DIDit

Uninstalled Microsoft Edge (Chrome engine)
Uninstalled Brave (Chrome engine)
Uninstalled Google Chrome
Firefox Developer Edition (with uBlock Origin) is now my only browser

#Browser #Microsoft #Google #Brave #Edge #MicrosoftEdge #Chrome #GoogleChrome #Firefox #uBlockOrigin #DID #DUT #unplugTrump #unplugBigtech

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Mr. Will

@MrWillCom@vmst.io · Feb 21, 2026

Safari, the stretched image "fits" you so much. 🤣 #safari #chrome #webdev

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Fabio Manganiello

@fabio@manganiello.eu · Feb 11, 2026

If you use any of the 287 #Chrome extensions on this list and you care about your privacy, uninstall them now. And btw, so much for “we need Manifest V3 to safeguard the privacy of our users”. MV3 was never about privacy. As shown in most of the cases on this list, nothing prevents a malicious Web extension from dumping whatever non-red-flag-issuing URL into declarative_net_requests and just sniff (almost) whatever they want from the browser. https://github.com/qcontinuum1/spying-extensions

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Hacker News 50

@hn50@social.lansky.name · Dec 27, 2025

This PNG shows a different version when loaded in Chrome than in Safari Link: https://lr0.org/blog/p/pngchanges/ Discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46403048 #chrome

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