Google Chrome is downloading a 4 GB Gemini Nano model onto users' machines without consent, with no opt-in, no opt-out short of enterprise tooling, and an automatic re-download every time the user deletes it. The pattern is identical to the Anthropic Claude Desktop case I wrote about last month, but the scale is between two and three orders of magnitude larger. This article does the legal analysis and, for the first time, the environmental analysis. The numbers are not small.
The average new PC is equipped with a $115 1TB SSD, so 4GB is 0.4% of that storage space, all four put together comprise 1.6% of available SSD space - 1.6% of $115 is $1.84. So, across a billion users, how likely is this to make a dent in anything other than the bandwidth consumed in delivery? And updates…
my entire /usr directory is just a bit above 4 gigabytes. you can put a fully featured modern operating system into that size, or you can have google’s slop machine that no one asked for
The average new PC is equipped with a $115 1TB SSD, so 4GB is 0.4% of that storage space, all four put together comprise 1.6% of available SSD space - 1.6% of $115 is $1.84. So, across a billion users, how likely is this to make a dent in anything other than the bandwidth consumed in delivery? And updates…
my entire /usr directory is just a bit above 4 gigabytes. you can put a fully featured modern operating system into that size, or you can have google’s slop machine that no one asked for
I agree, it’s heinous, but how else are they going to sell MOAR RAM, MOAR SSD, MOAR MOAR?
Used to be. Have you seen SSD prices recently? 1TB is now ~$250 CAD.
https://www.amazon.com/Verbatim-Vi550-Internal-Interface-Technology/dp/B082QXYC7S
It’s not like OEMs pay more than they have to…