Google’s Prompt API

Mat Marquis on Google pulling the web standards equivalent of U2 album marketing:

As a Chrome user, you’ll have received Gemini Nano in the form of a 4GB transfer recently; no permission asked or required. If you remove it, Chrome will re-download it. For reasons I can only guess at, Gemini Nano is presumably now considered to be part of Chrome itself, despite being a standalone product that is included alongside but not integrated into the browser — the way a copy of Bonzi Buddy included in a browser update might be considered a part of said browser.

It’s not exactly new news, as we’ve had published explainers on it for over a year now, as well as an intent to prototype for just as long.

Mozilla has already voiced its concerns/opposition:

According to Chrome’s documentation, to use the prompt API you must ‘acknowledge’ Google’s Generative AI Prohibited Uses Policy. Elements of this policy go beyond law. For example:
Do not engage … generating or distributing content that facilitates … Sexually explicit content
Do not engage in misinformation, misrepresentation, or misleading activities. This includes … Facilitating misleading claims related to governmental or democratic processes
This seems like a bad direction for an API on the web platform, and sets a worrying precedent for more APIs that have UA-specific rules around usage.

I have nothing to add, only that this is the sort of thing that seems worth knowing. Mat’s take-home isn’t exactly comforting because, remember, this has already shipped:

I’d like to say that something to the tune of “their whole argument hinges on ‘positive developer sentiment,’ so let’s show them that there isn’t any” — but there isn’t any; they cited places where there isn’t any. That’s not how it works for them. Google participates in the web standards process the way a bear participates in the “camping” process.
[…]
Remember this the next time Google announces an “exciting new standard” that they’re heroically championing — for you, for users, for good of the web — in language that has just a hint of inevitability about it.

The browser ecosystem has historically provided us with plenty of concerns. Alex Russell’s writing is a treasure trove of the current limits of browser choice. And things are especially murky when we need to be reminded that not all browser APIs are Web APIs.

Maybe helpful, maybe not: