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Remove the AI bloatware from Logitech’s mouse driver

I absolutely love Logitech's Mac MX Keys keyboard and MX Master mouse (though I've now updated to version 3 of the mouse). And generally, their software has been pretty good, too.

But a recent update added an "AI Prompt generator" feature to the mouse side of things, which is absolute garbage—I'm not saying it's bad, as I've never tried it. It's garbage as in there's no reason my mouse needs an AI prompt generator connected to a button. Even worse, as Stephen Hackett discovered, it creates a folder (at the top level of your home folder, no less!) with the ugly name of ai_overlay_tmp.

Thankfully, when Stephen posted about this on Mastodon, user @flipneus posted the solution. And in case that post ever goes away, here it is:

In Finder, open the top-level Library → Application Support folder, then navigate to Logitech → LogiOptionsPlus, and open app_permission.json in your favorite pure text editor. Add a comma after the last } on the line before the final }, then add these lines:

 "aipromptbuilder": {
  "value": false
 }
}

When done, the end of the file should look like this (though the commands in yours may differ):

...
  },
 "backlight": {
  "value": true
 },
 "aipromptbuilder": {
  "value": false
 }
}

The important part is the added comma after (in my file) the backlight-related section. Save the file when done editing, and reboot.

After the reboot, you can delete the ai_overlay_tmp folder—and there won't be an AI generator option in the Logi Options+ app any more. (Alternatively, Stephen points out you can use SteerMouse to program the buttons on the Logitech.)

Thank you, Stephen and @flipneus!

5 thoughts on “Remove the AI bloatware from Logitech’s mouse driver”

  1. (Some Logitech) keyboard buttons can be programmed using Keyboard Maestro (USB event trigger). I can vouch for Steermouse's utility in programming mice.

  2. "Add a comma after the last } in the file, then add these lines:"

    I think that it should be

    ""Add a comma before the last } in the file, then add these lines less the final }:""

    Always confusing adding something to the end of a json, at least this one isn't nested.

    The final result you show is correct.

    Thanks for this. Don't open the app often, but don't need the empty mystery folder.

  3. Well, I just see companies jumping on the AI bandwagon for now logical reason other then they don't want to look out of touch. Obviously the hype around AI has yet to be proven as accurate in the real world. Some of it works and some of it needs a lot more work. I was disappointed that Logitech did not add an opt out for the AI feature on their application.

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