Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device https://www.thatprivacyguy.com/blog/chrome-silent-nano-install/

[jherazob@mastodon.ie]

@clickhere @nixCraft
Firefox is not Chromium-based so this particular one is not related. As for Vivaldi they explicitly have not included any AI in the browser, and i just checked and it doesn't have this

[trademark@fosstodon.org]

@Reinald @nixCraft yes, https://huggingface.co/oongaboongahacker/Gemini-Nano it's also in the Android SDK, any app can freely use it: https://developer.android.com/ai/gemini-nano it's been a thing since 2024 or so.

[clickhere@mastodon.ie]

@jherazob Thanks and thanks!

That's so weird, I don't know why I had that in my head about FF..

And thanks for checking Vivaldi - fingers crossed it stays that way. (I'm a big fan of theirs, but since I've been burned by so many companies, it's always "for now"..)

@nixCraft

[jherazob@mastodon.ie]

@clickhere @nixCraft
That said, Firefox *IS* going all-in on the AI bug in their own way ("Our Torment Nexus will be Open Source and ethical!"), that's why i migrated to Librewolf, which strips off all these non-features, one of like 3 spinoffs that do similar things (the others were Zen Browser and Waterfox, Floorp went vibe-code, so save for that one any of the other 3 will serve you well enough and choosing one is a matter of taste)

[clickhere@mastodon.ie]

@jherazob Aha, thank you for these - I'd heard of Librewolf and Waterfox before, but couldn't recall them. Perfect.

And yes, I do *not* like where FF is going, so having alternatives is so welcome. (I like to have a few browser options on the go, just in case!)

@nixCraft