The topic Google explains why Android AICore occasionally takes up more storage is currently the subject of lively discussion — readers and analysts are keeping a close eye on developments.
This is taking place in a dynamic environment: companies’ decisions and competitors’ reactions can quickly change the picture.
Android AICore lets you “run generative AI features directly on your Android phone or tablet’s hardware.” These models (Gemini Nano) are inherently large, but Google now has a more detailed explanation of why Android AICore storage occasionally spikes.
AICore is available on Android 14 and higher for supported devices (processors). Google provides a list of which features and apps use the local model:
More broadly, on-device AI is credited as allowing for enhanced privacy, offline functionality, and faster and more consistent performance:
A Google support article now explains “Why storage use increases.” When a new version of Gemini Nano is available, AICore “temporarily keeps both the old and new versions of the model for up to 3 days.”
This is intended as a “fail-safe [that] allows your phone to instantly revert to an older version if the new update encounters an error, rather than having to download gigabytes of data again.”
When the system confirms the update is stable, the extra storage space clears automatically.