Key takeaways

  • Google is announcing a new Gemini model today, but it’s not the long-awaited 3.5 Pro.
  • Those numbers certainly are higher.
  • 5 Pro would launch in June, but that never happened.

What happened

5 Pro. 6 Flash, which itself was released only three weeks ago. This new “workhorse” model is supposedly the product of core optimizations and developer feedback, offering improved coding and agentic performance. 7 Flash. 7 Flash is noticeably better at coding than the previous Flash release. 3 percent. 7 Flash’s WebDev Arena score has risen to 1,588 from 1,538. 7 Flash. 6 Flash. 6’s 17 percent score.

Why it matters

Those numbers certainly are higher. But are they sufficiently different to support a new model release just three weeks after the last one? This may be more about maintaining the appearance of constant improvements in Google’s AI. Throughout 2024 and 2025, Google rapidly made up ground to rival the best AI coming out of competing AI labs. Things appear to have slowed in 2026, though.

5 Pro would launch in June, but that never happened. Developers and businesses that have invested in Google’s AI tools will have to make do with a slightly better Flash model for now. Google is hoping a lower price will keep developers engaged with Gemini. 6 Flash costs. 20/1M output tokens. 5 Pro out the door at any point this summer.

What to watch

5 Pro to be compared to the latest releases from OpenAI and Anthropic. Reports suggest that Gemini’s coding capabilities haven’t kept up with recent advances from other AI labs, which comes as Google is also seeing an exodus of AI talent. 7 Flash today—well, maybe. It’s live in the Gemini API, AI Studio, and Gemini Enterprise. For individuals, the availability is weirdly narrow.

7 Flash is now powering the Gemini Spark agent in the Gemini app, but only if you have an AI Pro or Ultra subscription. 6 Flash for now.