Google launched the Prompt API in Chrome 148, enabling local AI inference with Gemini Nano directly on users' devices, despite strong opposition from Mozilla, Apple, and the W3C. This feature provides AI without server costs, latency, or data leaving the device, cementing Google's win in this
The author developed Gemini Nano Book Lab, a Chrome extension utilizing the Prompt API to interact with an on-device language model using a lengthy memoir. The experiment investigates the model's behavior, retrieval costs, and API limitations when processing substantial text volumes.
Google Chrome may be consuming up to 4GB of computer storage due to an automatically downloaded on-device AI model file. This weights.bin file is linked to Google's Gemini Nano AI model, which powers various Chrome AI features like scam detection and writing assistance.