This is most unhelpful when I'm running on battery power, using a low-power profile that drops the clock speed down to 600MHz. I'm also using a mobile internet connection that's most definitely not unlimited, and I'd rather not download software updates on it when I can download the same updates on my truly unlimited home connection.
The really annoying thing is that this happened last time I was trying to get stuff done on the laptop, and I could have sworn I went in and ticked the "Don't start the task if the computer is running on batteries" option in the tasks (Chrome's updater looks like it uses the Windows task scheduler, which is admittedly a nice touch). But I've just had a look and that box is currently unticked. Hmm.
Come to think of it, I'm not even sure why I have Chrome on the laptop.