Staff Writer
In a bid to further protect users from online scams, Google has announced the rollout of new AI-powered defenses in its Chrome browser. The initiative introduces Gemini Nano—Google’s on-device large language model (LLM)—to desktop Chrome, while also expanding scam detection capabilities on Android.
The tech company stated that Gemini Nano will work in conjunction with Chrome’s Enhanced Protection mode, which already offers double the protection against phishing and malicious sites compared to Standard Protection. By leveraging the capabilities of Gemini Nano, Google aims to provide real-time analysis of suspicious websites, even those that have not been previously identified as threats.
“Gemini Nano’s LLM is perfect for this use because of its ability to distill the varied, complex nature of websites, helping us adapt to new scam tactics more quickly,” Google said in a blog post.
Currently, this AI-powered system is being used to flag online tech support scams. Google plans to extend this defense mechanism to Android devices and additional types of scams in the future.
Smarter Notification Warnings on Android
In addition to desktop enhancements, Google is improving scam protection on Chrome for Android by introducing AI-based notification alerts. These alerts are designed to warn users when they may be receiving potentially deceptive, malicious, or spam-like notifications from websites.
If a notification is flagged by Chrome’s on-device machine learning model, users will see a warning with options to either unsubscribe from the notifications or proceed to view the content. If a user believes the alert is a false positive, they can choose to continue receiving notifications from the site in question.
This update aims to mitigate risks that extend beyond websites themselves, as bad actors have increasingly used browser notifications as a channel for scams.
AI Across Google Services
Thursday’s announcement also highlighted Google’s broader use of artificial intelligence in the fight against scams across its services. According to the company, its AI systems now help detect and block hundreds of millions of fraudulent search results every day. These systems have reportedly enabled Google to identify and stop 20 times more scam-related web pages than previous efforts.
One notable example involves scammers impersonating airline customer service agents—a trend that Google says has been significantly reduced. The company claims it has decreased these types of scams by over 80%, lowering the chance that users encounter misleading or fraudulent support numbers in search results.
Looking Ahead
Google’s latest move underscores its continued investment in proactive, AI-driven safety measures to address the growing sophistication of online threats. As scams become more targeted and nuanced, tools like Gemini Nano could play a critical role in delivering fast, localized protection that adapts in real-time.
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