Google releases three new Gemini models, still no Pro update

On Tuesday, Google DeepMind released three new models: Gemini 3.6 Flash, Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite, and Gemini 3.5 Flash Cyber. Gemini 3.6 Flash — what the company calls its “workhorse model” — promises improved capabilities in coding, knowledge work, and multimodal performance, while cutting token usage by up to 17%, making it cheaper to run than its predecessor, Gemini 3.5 Flash. Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite is the most cost-effective model in the lineup, and Gemini 3.5 Flash Cyber is a specialized model fine-tuned for finding and fixing cybersecurity vulnerabilities at what Google describes as a decent price point. Flash Cyber will be exclusively available to governments and trusted partners as part of a limited-access pilot program, according to Google. The company says the focus of these releases is delivering efficiency, latency, and reliability for customers building AI agents at scale.

The launch is notable as much for what it left out. It does not include a long-anticipated update to Google’s flagship model, Gemini Pro, last updated in February. In the months since that launch, rival labs have kept up a fast release pace: OpenAI has shipped GPT-5.5 and begun rolling out GPT-5.6, while Anthropic has launched Claude Opus 4.8 and Claude Sonnet 5 and expanded access to its frontier Fable 5 model.

Google teased a Pro update alongside its Gemini 3.5 Flash release in May, saying the model was already being used internally and that the company hoped to roll it out the following month — a timeline that has since slipped. Last week, Bloomberg reported that Google is facing internal delays in launching Gemini 3.5 Pro as it struggles to meet internal performance goals. Gemini Pro models are generally Google’s highest-capability offerings for complex reasoning and coding tasks, while Flash models prioritize lower cost and faster response times for production applications. Google DeepMind product lead Logan Kilpatrick said Tuesday that the company is currently testing Gemini 3.5 Pro with partners and hopes to “land soon.” He also noted that the team has started its most ambitious pre-training run yet, for Gemini 4.

Why it matters

The gap leaves Google without a fresh flagship model at a moment when OpenAI and Anthropic are releasing frontier updates in rapid succession, raising questions about whether Gemini’s efficiency-focused Flash lineup can hold ground until Pro — and the more ambitious Gemini 4 — are ready.