Google ships Gemini 3.6 Flash, 3.5 Flash-Lite, and Flash Cyber as 3.5 Pro remains delayed

Alphabet's Google on Tuesday released three cheaper Gemini AI model variants but gave no firm timing for the delayed flagship Gemini 3.5 Pro, Reuters reported from San Francisco. The lineup includes Gemini 3.6 Flash and Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite, updated lightweight models for use cases that do not need the most advanced capability, plus Gemini 3.5 Flash Cyber for cybersecurity applications. Google DeepMind described Flash Cyber in press materials as a cost-efficient alternative to large, costly cybersecurity models. Wall Street has watched Gemini 3.5 Pro as a gauge of whether Google DeepMind is keeping pace with Anthropic and OpenAI. CEO Sundar Pichai had slated a June launch at the company's I/O developer conference in May. Reuters said the delay is tied to the model reportedly falling short of internal goals, particularly on coding. Google said 3.5 Pro is being tested with partners and would arrive soon, and that training had started on Gemini 4. Pichai has argued companies could save upwards of $1 billion a year by shifting most AI workloads to Gemini models. He is expected to face more questions on 3.5 Pro on Alphabet's second-quarter earnings call on Wednesday.