Google has finally updated Gemini with a new, more powerful AI model – but will only give it to select users.
It is the latest attempt by Google to catch up to its rivals Anthropic and OpenAI, amid accusations that it is falling behind. But it still said that the new model is so powerful that it would only be given to select users, for fear that it could provide access to dangerous cyber security applications and other threats.
The new model, "Argon", is larger in size than Google's previous line of advanced "Pro" models, a company spokesperson said.
"It's our most performant model yet built for complex workloads, and we see it comparable to frontier models like [OpenAI's] Astra and [Anthropic's] Opus on key coding and cyber benchmarks," the spokesperson said.
Google said it was providing the model to select cybersecurity partners and was participating in the Trump administration's voluntary process for pre-release model access. It did not provide a timeline for the model's public release.
The model posted better marks than Astra and Opus in terms of self-reported performance on several industry benchmarks, per a company press release. Still, Argon remained behind on certain other metrics, including two of the four coding-related benchmarks Google included in the release.
Google no longer plans to release Gemini 3.5 Pro, which chief executive Sundar Pichai originally said would be released in June, according to the company spokesperson.
In the intervening time, Google overhauled its DeepMind AI lab, with its founder and chief executive Demis Hassabis stepping aside and several leaders of its Gemini model leaving the company.
The months of delays to its AI model have caused the company to fall behind Anthropic and OpenAI, which continued to push the research frontier with new releases to its top models.
Pichai in July pushed back on the notion that Google was losing ground in the AI race. But Google in recent months has shifted its messaging from touting Gemini's cutting-edge capabilities to highlighting its cost advantage compared to competitor models.
Additional reporting by agencies
