> Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device without consent. At a billion-device scale the climate costs are insane.
OH MY GOODNESS, this is the WORST headline.
If Google Chrome comes with an AI model, and you install Chrome of your own free will, you just gave consent.
The "climate costs" are happening whether or not the AI is there. Sure, maybe it makes the hardware work a bit harder, but like, come on. I'm still using my computer anyway. YOU are the one costing the climate, not Google. You're the one turning the "On" button on.
I don't even know why headlines like these are taken seriously.
consent implies people know what they are downloading but this is a silent feature they are adding. regular people download Chrome to just use a browser, they don't consent to running an AI model.