Artificial Intelligence
Google limits Gemini models for free users
Google said free Gemini users would be cut back to Flash-Lite from 9 October, while AI Plus subscribers would also lose Pro access, and higher-priced plans kept Deep Think.
- An updated support document said Gemini app users without a Google AI subscription would be limited to 3.5 Flash-Lite.
- From 9 October, those users would no longer be able to access 3.6 Flash or 3.1 Pro.
- AI Plus subscribers would be limited to Flash-Lite and Flash, with Pro removed from that tier.
- Google said those $4.99-a-month users would receive an email explaining when the changes would take effect.
- The article said AI Pro and AI Ultra subscribers would not face regressions, and AI Pro users would get the Deep Think option.
Google was preparing new access limits for Gemini app users after a compute-based usage change in May. An updated support document said people without a Google AI subscription would be restricted to 3.5 Flash-Lite.
From 9 October, those free users would no longer be able to use 3.6 Flash or 3.1 Pro. AI Plus subscribers would be limited to Flash-Lite and Flash, and would lose Pro access.
Google said the AI Plus customers, who pay $4.99 a month, would be told by email when the change would take effect. The article said AI Pro and AI Ultra would keep their current access.
AI Pro subscribers would get the Deep Think option, which the piece described as intended for more extensive reasoning, while the current way of enabling extended thinking remained available. The article also said Gemini would add low, medium and high effort levels for each available model.
The piece said it was not yet clear where Gemini 4 Argon would fit. Google had said earlier in the week that Argon would first arrive for AI Ultra subscribers, but it had not said whether it would count as a Pro model or as a new tier above Pro.
Named in this story
Companies
- said it would change Gemini model access rules
Products and systems
- Gemini app
- was the app whose model access was being limited
- 3.5 Flash-Lite
- was the model free users and some subscribers would keep
- 3.6 Flash
- was a model free users and AI Plus subscribers would lose
- 3.1 Pro
- was a model free users and AI Plus subscribers would lose
- AI Plus
- was the subscription tier facing reduced model access
- AI Pro
- was a subscription tier that kept its access
- AI Ultra
- was a subscription tier that kept its access and gained Deep Think
- Deep Think
- was an option added for higher-tier subscribers
- Gemini 4 Argon
- was a forthcoming model whose tier Google had not specified
How the source tells it
The article was a straightforward product update with no notable emotive framing, aside from a brief unresolved note about where a new model would sit.
No emotive framing was found in the original.