Google Gemini launch delayed as tech falls short of internal goals

Alphabet's Google is months behind schedule on the release ​of Gemini 3.5 Pro, its ​most powerful flagship AI model, as the tech ​giant works to improve its capabilities, particularly in coding, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday.

The delay comes amid fierce competition among AI developers to boost model ‌performance, cut costs ⁠and ⁠expand enterprise capabilities, fueling a steady, industrywide stream of new systems and reasoning ​models.

Here are some details:


The model was due to be released in June, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai had said during Google's annual I/O developer conference in May.

The setback has some Google engineers, AI ​researchers and managers worried as rivals OpenAI and ⁠Anthropic release ‌models outperforming Gemini, the report said, citing 10 ​current and ​former employees.

Google late last month updated the ⁠data used to train Gemini to improve those capabilities, ​but the results fell short of expectations, Bloomberg ​News reported.

Shares of Alphabet slipped nearly 3% following the report.

"We're currently testing 3.5 Pro, an upgraded Flash model, and other models with partners, and we're productively engaged with the U.S. government," a company spokesperson told Reuters in a statement.

"We're shipping quickly ‌across a wide range of models while keeping them highly cost-effective for customers," the spokesperson said.

OpenAI ​launched GPT-5.6, ​its most advanced model, ⁠last week after a delay prompted by the U.S. government's requests over national security concerns about the potential misuse of powerful AI ​tech.

Anthropic had disabled its most advanced AI models, Mythos 5 and Fable 5, for all users after a June 12 U.S. export control order citing national security concerns.

The curbs were lifted in late June after Anthropic added safeguards.