Google Clarifies How Chrome’s Built-In AI Features Use Local Storage

Google has clarified how Chrome’s built-in AI features work after multiple reports pointed out that the browser may quietly take up to 4GB of local storage to download its Gemini Nano models. In a statement shared with 9to5Google, Google explained that the desktop version of Chrome has been downloading on-device AI models in the background since 2024 to perform some intelligent tasks locally. However, the company probably needed to be a bit more transparent about that.

“We’ve offered Gemini Nano for Chrome since 2024 as a lightweight, on-device model. It powers important security capabilities like scam detection and developer APIs without sending your data to the cloud. While this requires some local space on the desktop to run, the model will automatically uninstall if the device is low on resources,” the Google spokesperson said.

As of today, Chrome may use a local Gemini Nano model to summarize web pages, help users write or rephrase text, organize tabs, and warn about online scams. While this local model allows Chrome to run these features directly on the device, Google emphasized on a support page that some AI features “do not rely on on-device Generative models, and those features may still run even if the on-device Generative AI models are removed.”

Again, Chrome’s local AI models will be automatically deleted if the device’s free disk space drops below a certain threshold, or if an enterprise policy disables the feature. Otherwise, Chrome users can easily turn off built-in AI features in the browser and free up storage space by going to Settings > System and toggling off “On-device AI.”