a curious omission
Google users were more willing to forgive AI in 2024, but the backlash is real in 2026. People are increasingly looking to avoid AI features, which makes this 4GB stealth download all the more questionable. Google’s obsession with AI has led to setbacks at times, even if the company apparently has good intentions, as we are all (rightly!) overly focused on how this technology is impacting our lives.
It seems that some of those “good intentions” have made Chrome’s situation worse. As users searched for ways to remove this AI model, many looked for the Settings toggle. This coincided with the wide release of Chrome 148, and the label of this toggle included a very suspicious change compared to v147.
Google claims that this change was made to clarify how Chrome’s APIs work.
Credit: Ryan Whitwam
Google claims that this change was made to clarify how Chrome’s APIs work.
Credit: Ryan Whitwam
Google removed the condition that its on-device AI models would not send data to Google’s servers. This is worrying, because one of the primary benefits of native AI is its greater privacy. We contacted Google to ask if the term was due to a change to Chrome’s on-device AI.
A Google spokesperson said, “This does not represent any change in the way we handle on-device AI for Chrome.” “The data that is sent to the model is processed entirely on the device.”
According to Google, the team decided to make this change in early 2026 to better improve how AI works on the web. Chrome’s native AI has an API that a site can use, for example, to summarize or edit your writing. In these examples, the website will naturally see input and output. If it’s a Google website, that data ends up on Google’s servers. If it’s a non-Google site, Google doesn’t see that data.
That explanation may or may not be satisfactory as the backlash against AI grows. Despite this, Web use is never completely private. If you’re unsure about using AI tools on a site, you should always try to parse its privacy policy, which will tell you how your data (AI-generated or not) will be used. As long as Google is deploying AI as an opt-out service, you have to be extra cautious.
As the saying goes, it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission, but Google should ask for permission a little more often.
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