This is egregious and the only people who can get away with it are these Big Tech companies. The legal analysis is moot. They have operated with impunity for decades. The law, especially with AI, only applies to organizations that Big Tech and the government want to eliminate. Rules for thee, not for me.
Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device without consent
381–390 of 1001 posts
Re: Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device without consent
#382Earlier quoted context omitted.
They don't want you to opt out. Then they can't brag to the shareholders about Chrome being "AI Powered" You're not even the customer when it comes to Google.
at this point you're barely the product either. You're more a passive platform for them to execute their strategy on.
Totally agreed. I was thinking about how to word it but I was giving up.
But I would consider us users to be more like an asset on their balance sheet. Not something they would care about the opinion of.
Re: Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device without consent
#383"Silently installs" is misleading. They are including a file in the package which is presumably related to the functionality of the software. I don't use chrome for a long list of reasons but it is not standard or expected to get consent for that.
Then what is your definition of "installing" exactly? Are you going to split hairs about it not being a separate program being installed and running in the background, but weights being used by code that is run inside the browser? Because honestly, I don't think there's any significant difference from the user's perspective here. Other than the fact that doing the latter bypasses the need to get permission to install…
> A 4 GiB model has nothing to do with the functionality of a web browser. It is something forced on users without their consent.
This does not happen. The model is not downloaded unless the user intentionally uses the feature that requires it. Then it's downloaded at that point.
Re: Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device without consent
#384Earlier quoted context omitted.
The next Netflix breakout show will burn this planet to the grounds :)
Netflix does not store 4gb on your drive...
and people on very limited bandwidth and/or speed don't watch Netflix (or do so at most at 1080p) and if they watch netflix they are fine with clogging up their internet as it isn't some random backround download hindering what they want to do but what they are actively doing
Re: Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device without consent
#385I am trying to wrap my head around this: if I remove Chrome Browser, will I reclaim the disk space for this model? Thanks in advance.
Re: Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device without consent
#386"Silently installs" is misleading. They are including a file in the package which is presumably related to the functionality of the software. I don't use chrome for a long list of reasons but it is not standard or expected to get consent for that.
> "Silently installs" is misleading. They are including a file in the package which is presumably related to the functionality of the software.
Related... to the functionality of feeding the same profit and loss account, right?
Re: Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device without consent
#387Earlier quoted context omitted.
“Silent” seems appropriate given it historically never required such a large storage requirement and the nature of the new feature seems entirely optional; and it’s happening silently as part of a normal upgrade.
> it's happening silently as part of a normal upgrade. No, this is not true. The large requirement comes after a user wants to use the feature, not as a part of the normal upgrade. If the user never engages with the feature, it's not downloaded.
> No, this is not true. The large requirement comes after a user wants to use the feature,
The feature that didn't say it would cost you 4Gb, right?
Re: Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device without consent
#388Earlier quoted context omitted.
Look at how many headlines indicated that something is silently happening. It's a weird trend at the moment.
We live in a tech world where it has become normalized that perfectly functioning software that you used to buy once and then got to use indefinitely suddenly receives an "update" to put previously existing functionality behind a pain subscription. The reasonable expectation people have is that an update fixes security bugs and maybe includes a few optimizations. So no, I don't think it's a weird trend at all that pe…
Its a salesman's foot in the door, except its near-invisible and gets to walk round your house.
Re: Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device without consent
#389Earlier quoted context omitted.
Auto update is basically a root backdoor, it's especially troublesome when you are not the customer, you are the product!
Yes, which is why I use paid-for OSes and browsers, instead of free ones like Linux or Firefox. I don't want to be the product.
Man, this is a dumb take even by HN standards.