Google Chrome is about to eliminate the last loopholes that allowed older ad blockers to keep working. According to The Verge, Chrome versions 150 and 151, expected in late June and July, will remove the final pieces of code related to Manifest V2 extensions. This means legacy ad blockers such as the original uBlock Origin will no longer function in Chrome, with only Manifest V3-compatible extensions supported. Google says the change is necessary due to technical debt and security risks from the old system. Critics argue that Manifest V3 limits the effectiveness of advanced ad blockers and privacy tools. Most Chrome users have already switched to Manifest V3 alternatives like uBlock Origin Lite, while others have moved to browsers that still support Manifest V2 extensions.

Google Chrome is quietly downloading a roughly 4 GB AI model to many users’ computers without clear upfront consent. The file, called weights.bin, is part of Google’s Gemini Nano on-device language model and lands in the browser’s user data folder under OptGuideOnDeviceModel. It powers built-in AI tools such as “Help me write,” smarter tab suggestions, on-device scam detection, and page summarization. The download triggers automatically for devices meeting minimum hardware requirements, and Chrome often replaces the files if deleted. While the model processes data locally, installation happens in the background with minimal notification. The scale is noteworthy. Hundreds of millions or billions of installations add up to thousands of tonnes of carbon emissions globally from data transfer, even though each is a one-time event. To prevent or remove it, go to chrome://flags, disable the entries for the optimization guide on-device model and Prompt API, restart the browser, and manually delete the folder.

Someone made a Chrome extension called Pragmata that shows the full Rotten Tomatoes audience score alongside the official Verified Audience score. The idea is simple: instead of only seeing the verified users’ score, it also displays the overall audience rating, offering another way to compare opinions on a movie or TV show. Rotten Tomatoes uses its Verified Audience score to reduce review bombing and ensure reviews come from people who actually watched the movie. Pragmata adds the unverified audience score without replacing the official one, so you can see both.