Registry Settings to the rescue

To stop these AI model downloads for Edge and Chrome, you need to find the “GenAILocalFoundationalModelSettings” variable and switch it from “Allowed (0)” to “Disallowed (1)”. This will prevent the model from downloading and remove any previously downloaded models.
How to implement the edit for Chrome and Edge

Below is how to complete this edit on Edge

    Open Registry Editor (REGEDIT.msc)
    Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
    Then: SOFTWARE
    Then: Policies
    Then: Microsoft
    Then: Edge
    Set the value of “GenAILocalFoundationalModelSettings” to 1

For Google Chrome, the process is similar

    Open Registry Editor (REGEDIT.msc)
    Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
    Then: SOFTWARE
    Then: Policies
    Then: Google
    Then: Chrome
    Set the value of “GenAILocalFoundationalModelSettings” to 1

What about Windows 11 Home users?

In Google Chrome’s settings, users can disable “On-device AI”. Inside Chrome, navigate to settings, then System, and then toggle “On-device AI” to off. Doing so will prevent AI-based features that rely on Google’s models from working on Chrome, though it will free up storage space on your device.

If you choose to re-enable this setting, you will allow Google’s AI model to be downloaded and used. The time it takes to download will depend on your internet speed and the model’s size at that time.