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mei@mei@donotsta.re (2026-06-13 21:10:21)
Despite protests of the W3C, nightly versions of Google Chrome are currently shipping with new semantics for the JavaScript window.prompt API.

“Current best practices dictate that libraries such as React, or the more recent Florb.js, should be used to display modal dialogues,” the spokeperson explained. “As such, we are repurposing the prompt API for interfacing with Google Gemini for the Web, to ensure developer ergonomics of this new feature.”

When asked about compatibility with existing websites, Google dismissed the concerns. “Our analytics suggest that the current prompt API finds little use across the web. In the event that the user visits a website that still makes use of it, the language model will be used to generate the answer to the question being asked, improving usability of the website.”

“To accommodate legacy workflows, we will be shipping an official browser extension, available from the Chrome Web Store, which will allow the user to restore the old behavior of the API on a per-site basis.”