---
title: "Force-Enabling the Chrome Gemini Sidebar (Project Glic)"
date: 2025-12-29T10:00:00.000Z
author: Z.SHINCHVEN
tags: [chrome, ai, gemini, hacking]
canonical: https://atlassc.net/2025/12/29/enable-chrome-ai-innovation-outside-us
---
Chrome’s Gemini-powered sidebar, internally known as Project Glic, is currently restricted to the US region. This geofence is enforced via local eligibility flags and variation settings rather than strict server-side IP checks, meaning it can be bypassed by modifying the browser's global state.

## Configuration Overrides

To unlock the feature, ensure Chrome is fully terminated and apply the following modifications to your `Local State` file. You will need to find these specific keys within the JSON structure and update their values:

- **is_glic_eligible**: Set all instances to `true` (perform a global search as it may appear multiple times).
- **variations_country**: Set to `"us"`.
- **variations_permanent_consistency_country**: Set to `["YOUR_CHROME_VERSION", "us"]` (e.g., `["132.0.6834.111", "us"]`).

*Note: You can find your current Chrome version in `chrome://version`.*

---

## Technical Implementation

The `Local State` file (a global JSON config) dictates the eligibility of experimental features. You can find it at:

- **macOS:** `~/Library/Application Support/Google/Chrome/Local State`
- **Windows:** `%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Local State`
- **Linux:** `~/.config/google-chrome/Local State`

### Eligibility Flags
The `is_glic_eligible` key is a recursive flag. In many cases, it may appear multiple times within the JSON structure; all instances must be set to `true` to ensure the sidebar UI is initialized.

### Regional Spoofing
The `variations_country` and `variations_permanent_consistency_country` keys define the locale for the Variations service (Chrome's A/B testing framework). Setting these to `us` satisfies the client-side regional check for AI Innovations.

Upon relaunching Chrome, the **AI Innovations** toggle will appear in `Settings`, and the Gemini icon will be accessible in the toolbar or side panel. If the UI still fails to load, verify that `chrome://flags/#optimization-guide-on-device-model` is set to `Enabled`.