Users report massive background data consumption by Google Home Speaker, with one user seeing 140GB in a day and three speakers totaling 6TB in under a month despite minimal use. The issue appears limited to the Google Home Speaker, not Nest Audio. Posts on the Google Home subreddit and reports from 9to5Google highlight the problem, with some speakers stuck in a loop downloading firmware that fails to install.
Google acknowledges the issue and says a fix is already rolling out. The device, which integrates Gemini AI for daily queries, has also faced latency problems this summer, causing slow responses. A recent Gemini update intended to make smart home devices "snappier" apparently backfired, prompting further tuning.
Android Central reached out to Google for details. In the meantime, users are advised to monitor data usage and await the upcoming software update. The incident underscores the importance of stable firmware updates for always‑online smart speakers.
Source: Android Central · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing