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Google Chrome's silent 4GB AI download problem [updated]
(www.malwarebytes.com)
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this post was submitted on 12 May 2026
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tldr?
Google is making your personal computer do work for them, without asking.
Oh, like BOINC? I loved SETI@home and the protein folding projects for medical research!
Wait, you mean mandatory, secret distributed computing just to offload expense from an insatiable mega-conglomerate to its ~~users~~ products? GTFOooooooooo...
I hate this timeline.
Those days were so filled with optimism and wonder.
I haven’t thought about the project in a long time, it looks like it’s still alive and well.
It is! (Or they are!)
Unfortunately (IMHO) they switched to requiring GPU, rather than CPU, processing some time back - for understandable reasons - and that makes the power consumption an issue.
No longer can you do screensaver/idle or shared use without your GPU pegging at 100% while the fans imitate jet engines (the last time I checked). 😟
Google is using chrome to put a 3gb AI file on people's computer silently. This reports what they're doing and how to disable it if one is using chrome.
And the lesson the chrome users should learn? Stop using chrome.
4GB*