Google Chrome is downloading a 4 GB Gemini Nano model onto users' machines without consent, with no opt-in, no opt-out short of enterprise tooling, and an automatic re-download every time the user deletes it. The pattern is identical to the Anthropic Claude Desktop case I wrote about last month, but the scale is between two and three orders of magnitude larger. This article does the legal analysis and, for the first time, the environmental analysis. The numbers are not small.
Local models spin your GPU like a video game. Unless you think Overwatch is a climate disaster
90% of users aren’t playing Overwatch.
And even if you are, that’s a significant increase in power draw if you’re spinning up a local LLM every time you start to type into your browser’s address bar to do a search or something.
And, most importantly, you can choose when and if you want to play Overwatch. It didn’t get installed without your knowledge and consent, and it doesn’t run automatically.
I’m not sure if that would rise the level of ‘catastrophe’ but it would certainly draw a lot of power, which would be bad for the climate, since much of that power would come from burning fossil fuels.
Does the general existence of the video game industry deserve the same finger-wagging about environmental impact? Guy in the other subthread did the math for everyone downloading this one file, and refuses to extend that concern to all the people streaming movies.
I don’t feel like using your video card is the worst thing most randos have done re: climate change. There’s some uncomfortable accounting every time you eat a hamburger.
The power involved here is just not a big deal. Not unless we want to harangue people for a variety of other unremarkable habits.
90% of users aren’t playing Overwatch.
And even if you are, that’s a significant increase in power draw if you’re spinning up a local LLM every time you start to type into your browser’s address bar to do a search or something.
And, most importantly, you can choose when and if you want to play Overwatch. It didn’t get installed without your knowledge and consent, and it doesn’t run automatically.
If everyone chose to play Overwatch, would that be a climate catastrophe, specifically?
I’m not sure if that would rise the level of ‘catastrophe’ but it would certainly draw a lot of power, which would be bad for the climate, since much of that power would come from burning fossil fuels.
Does the general existence of the video game industry deserve the same finger-wagging about environmental impact? Guy in the other subthread did the math for everyone downloading this one file, and refuses to extend that concern to all the people streaming movies.
I don’t feel like using your video card is the worst thing most randos have done re: climate change. There’s some uncomfortable accounting every time you eat a hamburger.
The power involved here is just not a big deal. Not unless we want to harangue people for a variety of other unremarkable habits.
Removed by mod