Chrome Quietly Removed a Privacy Promise About Its On-Device AI. Here’s What to Know.

If you use Google Chrome, you may have noticed it recently installed a built-in AI model on your computer. What you might not have noticed is that Google also deleted a sentence that explicitly said this on-device AI does not send data to its servers.

That change, first reported by Decrypt on May 7, 2026, has since been picked up by multiple outlets. Google has not publicly commented on the removal, and as of now, the precise reason for the deletion remains unclear. But the shift raises a straightforward question for anyone who cares about browser privacy: what changed, and what should you do about it?

What Actually Changed

The deleted statement originally appeared in a Chrome support page or feature description for the on-device AI model (sometimes called the “Chrome AI” or “local AI” feature). It read: “This on-device AI does not send any data to Google servers.”

That sentence is now gone. The feature itself still exists, and Google has not issued a separate update explaining the change. It is reasonable to assume that the removal was intentional—someone at Google decided to delete that language. Whether that means the AI model now does send data, or simply that Google no longer wants to commit to the promise in writing, is unknown.

Chrome has been quietly downloading a roughly 4GB AI model onto users’ machines, as Decrypt separately reported. Even if you delete it, the browser may reinstall it. That alone was a privacy concern for some users. Now the removal of the no-data-sent guarantee adds another layer of ambiguity.

Why This Matters

The phrase “on-device AI” implies that everything happens locally—on your computer, not in the cloud. That is the selling point: you get AI features like summarization or writing help without your data leaving your machine. If that promise is no longer in effect, the feature could be sending queries, prompts, or telemetry back to Google.

We do not know what data might be transmitted. It could be anonymized usage statistics. It could be the content you ask the AI to process. Without a clear privacy policy update, users are left guessing. And in the context of online safety and consumer protection, this kind of quiet policy change is exactly the sort of thing that erodes trust, especially for a browser used by billions.

What You Can Do Right Now

If you do not want to risk your data being sent to Google’s servers via Chrome’s AI, the safest option is to disable the on-device AI feature entirely. Here is how:

  1. Open Chrome and type chrome://settings/ai into the address bar.
  2. Look for any setting related to “on-device AI” or “Chrome AI.” The exact label may vary depending on your version.
  3. Toggle the feature off.

You may also want to check whether the AI model has already been downloaded. In Chrome, you can go to chrome://components and look for something like “AI Model” or “On-Device AI” to see its status. If it is installed and you want to remove it, you can click the trash icon if available, though note that Chrome may re-download it later.

To prevent re-downloading, you can keep the AI feature disabled. Some users have reported that disabling the AI setting stops Chrome from re-downloading the model. There is no official guarantee, but it is the best option available.

The Bigger Picture

This is not an isolated incident. As browsers and operating systems increasingly embed AI features, the line between local and cloud processing can become blurry. Companies may market something as “on-device” but still collect data for model improvement, analytics, or other purposes. Reading privacy policies and support pages carefully—especially after a feature launches—matters more than ever.

For now, if you want to use Chrome’s AI features, be aware that the previous privacy assurance is gone. If you prefer to keep your data strictly local, turn the feature off. And keep an eye on future updates from Google, as they may eventually clarify what data the on-device AI actually transmits.

Sources:

  • Decrypt: “Chrome Deleted Its Own Privacy Promise for Sneaky On-Device AI” (May 7, 2026)
  • Decrypt: “Chrome Is Quietly Installing a 4GB AI Model on Your Computer—And Putting It Back If You Delete It” (May 6, 2026)
  • Yahoo Tech, GIGAZINE, and other outlets confirming the removal