I wouldn’t advise removing the AI model from your computer if you use AI features in Chrome, since on-device models are better for your privacy. However, if you don’t intend to use any AI features within Chrome, you can consider removing the AI model.
To permanently remove the file and stop Chrome from hoarding your storage, you must first tell the browser to stop fetching the model, and then delete the files.
Step 1: Disable the Chrome Flags
- Open Google Chrome, type chrome://flags into your URL address bar, and press the Enter key on your keyboard.
- In the search bar at the top, search for “optimization-guide-on-device-model.”
- When the #optimization-guide-on-device-model flag appears, click the dropdown menu on the right and select “Disabled.”
- Search and disable “#prompt-api-for-gemini-nano” too.
- Click the Relaunch button that appears at the bottom of the screen to restart Chrome.
This stops Chrome from using the feature, preventing forced auto-downloads when you delete the files.
Step 2: Delete the Folder
Now that Chrome is blocked from retrieving the file, you can safely delete the bloated folder. Make sure Chrome is fully closed before doing this.
- On Windows:
- Press Win + R.
- Paste %LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome\User Data\ and hit the Enter key on your keyboard.
- Look through the “Default” folder (or your specific user profile folder) for the “OptGuideOnDeviceModel” folder.
- Delete it.
- On macOS:
- Open Finder.
- Press Cmd + Shift + G.
- Paste ~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/ and hit the Enter key on your keyboard.
- Search for the “OptGuideOnDeviceModel” folder and move it to the trash.
- Empty your trash bin.
There’s a chance a future Chrome update will reset these flags and redownload the AI model. There are registry changes you can make to prevent this from happening, but that is outside the scope for most users. The easier, non-nuclear option would be to repeat these steps again.
Source: https://www.androidauthority.com/google-chrome-weights-bin-ai-model-download-explained-3664043/
