AI Giants Slash Free Usage Limits as Holiday Demand Overwhelms GPU Infrastructure

Sora and Google's Nano Banana Pro Are Slammed, and Scale Back Free Videos and Images

OpenAI's video generator Sora and Google's image generator nano banana pro are placing new limits on how many videos (in the case of Sora) and AI images (in the case of nano banana pro) you can make per day. With more people using their Thanksgiving weekend idle time to, say, make AI videos of cats as angry service industry cashiers, it's likely these services are hitting their limits. Bill Peebles, OpenAI's head of Sora, posted on X, "our gpus are melting, and we want to let as many people access sora as possible!" GPUs are the graphics processing units used by AI services for the complex computations they need to perform. Peebles wrote that Sora will limit free video generation to six videos per day. ChatGPT Plus and Pro accounts won't see any changes. "And everybody can purchase additional gens as needed," he wrote. Don't miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source. As for Google's image generator, a Gemini support page says that those without a Google AI plan are now limited to two images generated and edited per day with nano banana pro. The previous limit was three, according to 9to5Google, which also spotted new usage limits on Gemini 3 Pro that are variable. The same support page says free access to Gemini 3 Pro Thinking includes "Basic access - daily limits may change frequently." The limit for nano banana (the previous 2.5 non-pro version) is 100 free images per day. A representative for Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment. (Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET's parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

Your Free Google Gemini Nano Banana Pro Access Is Now More Limited

Google's latest AI tools, Gemini 3 and Nano Banana Pro, are less than two weeks old, but your usage on a free account is already more limited than it was at launch. If you don't pay for Gemini AI, you'll now be limited to two prompts a day for Google's Nano Banana Pro image generation tools. Previously, you were allowed to make up to three images a day. The changes are detailed in a support document spotted by 9to5Google. The brand says, "Image generation and editing is in high demand," suggesting the new limit is to help Google handle increased pressure on its systems. It's unclear when Google made its changes. If you run out of Nano Banana Pro credits, it'll switch back to the standard version. That's currently Nano Banana, also known as Gemini 2.5 Flash Image. Google says, "Limits may change frequently and will reset daily." That may mean we see it reduced even further to just one prompt per a day, or Google may increase allowances. However, given AI companies are often encouraging users to switch to paid plans, it's unlikely we'll see Google increase usage limits on its free service. Google's Gemini 3 model has also changed its limitations, but it remains unclear how many times you'll be able to use this model each day. The brand used to offer up to five prompts a day, which was the same on Gemini 2.5 Pro. Google's updated documentation now says it offers "basic access" and it says daily limits are subject to change "frequently." It's unclear what Google means by that, but it's likely to mean your limits will be reduced below five. Be sure to frontload your most important use of Gemini at the start of your day to make the most of your prompt allowance. Those who pay for Google's AI services won't experience any changes. Those with AI Pro continue to get up to 100 Gemini 3 prompts, and 100 image generation credits. Those with AI Ultra get 500 prompts and can make 1,000 Nano Banana Pro images each day.

Google limits free Nano Banana Pro image generation usage due to 'high demand'

If you were hoping to create some silly images this long holiday weekend with Google's new Nano Banana Pro model, I have some bad news: the company is restricting free usage of the AI system. In a support document spotted by 9to5Google, Google notes free users can currently generate two images daily, down from three per day previously. "Image generation and editing is in high demand," the company writes. "Limits may change frequently and will reset daily." It would appear Google is also limiting free Gemini 3 Pro usage, with the document stating non-paying users will get "basic access -- daily limits may change frequently" as well. When the company first began rolling out Gemini 3 Pro on November 18, it guaranteed five free prompts per day. That was in line with Gemini 2.5 Pro. If you pay for either Google AI Pro or AI Ultra plan, your usage limits have not changed. They remain at 100 and 500 prompts per day, respectively. Google isn't the first company to enforce stricter usage following a popular release. You may recall OpenAI delayed rolling out ChatGPT's built-in image generator to free users after the feature turned out to be more popular than anticipated. However, OpenAI eventually brought image generation to free users.

Gemini 3 Pro is so good, Google had to tighten free tier limits to keep up

Nano Banana Pro allowances for free users have been reduced from three to two images per day. Even NotebookLM features have been temporarily scaled back. Google launched Gemini 3 Pro and Nano Banana Pro last week and, as expected, the response to the substantially upgraded AI tools has been overwhelmingly positive. That is, unless you don't encounter rate limits when trying to push AI to its new limits. Google appears to have made adjustments to the amount of free storage that users can utilize with Gemini 3 Pro, likely in response to high demand. Previously, free users could receive up to five prompts per day with Gemini 3 Pro, matching the access limits of Gemini 2.5 Pro. Free users could also use Nano Banana Pro for up to three images per day. As 9to5Google notes, Google has updated the access limits in the past few days. With Gemini 3 Pro, free users are now promised "Basic access," which comes with "daily limits may change frequently." Nano Banana Pro access has also been reduced to two images per day, with Google noting that these limits may change frequently and will reset daily due to high demand for image generation and editing. NotebookLM is also experiencing capacity constraints, as the service temporarily rolled back access to the Infographics and Slide Decks features for free users. Even Pro users have additional limits instituted on them. Given that all these features are new and have been received so positively, these limits make sense, even though free users may not appreciate them. If you want to utilize Google's AI tools extensively as an enthusiast, I recommend subscribing to Google's AI Pro Plan, which costs $20 per month and provides ample room to explore.

Gemini 3 is in high demand, and Google's free tier can't keep up

Google released Gemini 3, its latest large language model, officially earlier this month. It brings an impressive leap in intelligence and capabilities. No wonder there has been high demand for Gemini 3 since launch, which is now forcing Google to reduce usage limits for free Google account holders. Google rolled out Gemini 3 across search, mobile apps, and other services on launch day. It also provided free Google users with access to "up to 5 prompts" per day. This was in addition to a limit of "up to 3 images/day" for Nano Banano Pro -- Gemini 3's image generation model. Due to a massive surge in demand, the company has updated its support page to reflect reduced Gemini access for users without a Google AI plan to "Basic access." Under this, the "daily limits may change frequently," depending on the load on the company's servers. Nano Banana Pro access is now also reduced to 2 images per day. And as 9to5Google spotted, Google notes that "image generation & editing is in high demand. Limits may change frequently and will reset daily." For comparison, Google AI Pro subscribers have access to "up to 100 prompts / day" in the Gemini app, while Ultra users get up to 500 prompts. For Nano Banana Pro, the limit is 100 and 1,000 images per day. Even NotebookLM users have not been spared. Google has "temporarily rolled back access" to its new Nano Banana Pro-powered Infographics and Slide Decks feature for free users. And for Pro users, there are additional limits in place now. Subscribe to Google's AI plan to get priority access to Gemini 3 Pro Google will likely restore the original usage limits for Gemini 3 Pro once the load on its servers decreases. However, with the holiday season reaching its peak and Christmas only a few weeks away, that may not happen until early January. Essentially, if you want to play around with Gemini 3 Pro or Nano Banana Pro without worrying about hitting any restrictions, subscribe to Google's AI Pro plan. It costs $20 monthly and gets you priority access to Gemini's latest models alongside 2TB storage space, family sharing, and other perks. And if your usage is even higher, subscribe to the more expensive AI Ultra plan, which costs $200 per month.

Google and OpenAI are cutting back free usage for Gemini 3 Pro and Sora 2 -- here are the new limits

Bad news for those enjoying consumer AI tools, but not enough to pay for them. In the last few days, both OpenAI and Google have taken steps to reduce free access to their generative AI platforms, perhaps indicating that the 'free lunch' period of AI access is beginning to wind down -- or at least become far less appealing. Firstly, 9to5Google spotted a change of wording on Google's own support page for Gemini 3 Pro. When it arrived last week to great fanfare, free users were promised "up to 5 prompts / day", matching the limits available on Gemini 2.5 Pro. Free users were also able to use Nano Banana Pro (the model's image generation element) to create "up to 3 images / day". "Thinking with Gemini 3 Pro" no longer has a figure attached. Instead the wording has changed to something far more vague: "Basic access -- daily limits may change frequently". Nano Banana Pro was down to "2 images / day", though at the time of writing it's back up to three, with a note saying it's in high demand and that "limits may change frequently". OpenAI, meanwhile, has put similar caps on video generation from its Sora 2 app. Non-paying customers are now limited to six generations a day, down from 30 at launch. In this instance, we have a clear explanation as to why the change is being made, thanks to a post on X from Bill Peebles, head of Sora at OpenAI: "Our gpus are melting, and we want to let as many people access sora as possible!". In other words, Sora 2 is a victim of its own success, with the massive compute requirements needed by AI video generation causing problems for Open AI's servers. In both cases, it seems Google and Open AI have decided the time has come to try and push free users into becoming fully paying customers. Google is pretty clear in the footnote about usage limits that it will prioritize paid accounts over free ones. "If capacity changes, limits for users without a Pro or Ultra plan may be limited before users with a plan," it reads, adding that such limits help "maintain a high standard of quality". To be clear, there have always been reasons to pay for AI tools if you find them useful. As the chart below shows, it's not just about getting more prompts. For example, the context window -- the amount of data Gemini can digest from an uploaded file -- jumps from 32,000 to one million, allowing for far more thorough responses. Nonetheless, those who have gotten by on free models up until now will not like the direction of travel. Upselling a paid product with a limited free version is a tactic as old as the hills, but reducing the cost-free version's usefulness is a gamble. Yes, it may drive more people to paid accounts out of frustration, but it's equally plausible they'll just find themselves using the product less. That said, if all free options are becoming less generous -- as seems likely given the huge energy and hardware costs for AI businesses looking to keep up -- the choice may eventually be a binary one: pay up, or opt out of AI use altogether. For those who are already hooked on the tech's convenience, the free lunch era may finally be coming to an end.

OpenAI and Google quietly limit free Sora, Nano Banana Pro and Gemini 3 Pro use - here's what it means for you

If you've been using Sora or Gemini 3 Pro on a free plan, things just got a little bit tighter. Both OpenAI and Google have quietly cut back how many prompts, videos and images free users can generate, as demand surges and GPU costs skyrocket. In short: you're getting less access than you did even a week ago. Here's what's happening: OpenAI is limiting access to Sora 2, its AI video generation tool, to just six generations a day for free users, and Google has removed its promise of five prompts per day on Gemini 3 Pro and reduced image generations, with Nano Banana Pro down to just two a day for free users. Bill Peebles, head of Sora at OpenAI, tweeted: "Our GPUs are melting and we want to let as many people access Sora as possible!" He continued: "We're setting usage limits for free users to 6 generations a day." The "melting GPUs" line refers to the massive compute demand caused by Sora videos. Video and image generation is far more power-hungry than text, so rationing the number of videos free users can create should give OpenAI's servers some downtime. ChatGPT Plus and Pro users have unchanged limits, and Peebles says "everybody can purchase additional generations as needed." Of course, paying for video generations isn't going to appeal to people on the free plan. Gemini 3 Pro, which launched last week for all Gemini users, initially offered up to five prompts a day for free users, and up to three images a day via its associated Nano Banana Pro image generator. This allocation matched what free users received with the previous Gemini 2.5 Pro model. Now, however, Google has announced, via a support article, that it's changing its prompt allocation for Gemini Pro. It no longer shows a daily prompt number, instead saying free users will receive "basic access - daily limits may change frequently." Image generation and editing with Nano Banana Pro is now fixed at two images per day. For users on a Google AI Plan, nothing has changed - you still get up to 100 prompts a day on Google AI Pro and up to 500 prompts a day on Google AI Ultra. The simultaneous clampdowns from Google and OpenAI might be a coincidence, but they could also be an early sign of a maturing AI industry wrestling with the huge compute costs required for prompt, image and video generation. I wouldn't be surprised if, over the next year, we saw more of these small nudges pushing people toward paid plans, as business models start catching up with the reality of the cost of running modern AI websites. With demand exploding, GPUs overheating, and AI companies gently steering us toward paid tiers, the market could be shifting. The AI tools aren't going anywhere, but your days of generous free access to top-tier models may be numbered.

Google caps number of free Nano Banana prompts as demand soars

Free users: Be wise with your prompts. Credit: Contributor / Anadolu via Getty Images Access to Google's popular next gen image generator, Nano Banana, is temporarily scaling down, as the company tries to keep up with widespread demand for its AI-enhanced photos. In a Google support document first spotted by 9to5Google, the company has dropped the number of free image prompts down to two from its previous three-prompt limit, with a note that caps "may change frequently." The same document outlines new usage limits for free users on Gemini 3 Pro, as well, with the company now bumping non-subscribers to "basic access." Google reserves the right to cap daily prompt limits at any time for basic access users, depending on traffic volume. Usage terms for Google AI Pro or AI Ultra plan subscribers remains the same. Google's generative AI competitor, OpenAI, simultaneously restricted the number of AI-generated video prompts for free Sora users to six per day. "Our gpus are melting, and we want to let as many people access Sora as possible" said Sora head Bill Peebles in a post to X. Nano Banana launched to widespread interest following a successful journey up the LMArena AI leaderboard in August. While it originally ran with Gemini 2.5 Flash, the model got a major Gemini 3 upgrade just last week, shortly after Google began integrating the AI tool into Google Search, NotebookLM, Google Photos, and even Google Message. Google plans to add the image generator to more products, including directly into Android's Chrome Canary search bar. That move is in line with Google's plan to turn it's suite of products into AI-supercharged helpers, boosted by Gemini 3. The model was the first Gemini AI upgrade to roll out immediately to all Google products, including search, and was advertised as the tech giant's most advanced reasoning model yet. Upon launch, users were offered five free prompts per day. The Gemini app sees more than 650 million users per month.

Google Gemini 3 Pro users, your free days might be ending soon

Google cuts back daily quotas for free Gemini 3 Pro and Nano Banana Pro use It looks like the honeymoon phase for Google's latest AI tools is already over. Just weeks after launching its flagship Gemini 3 Pro and the Nano Banana Pro image generator, Google is quietly tightening the belt on what free users can actually do. When these tools first dropped, the rules were clear: you got five prompts a day with the top-tier model and three images. But in the last few days, that safety net has vanished. If you're on the free plan, you now have something called "Basic access." Google isn't promising a fixed number of prompts anymore; instead, it's warning that your daily limit could change wildly depending on how busy its servers are. Not just Gemini, Nano Banana also takes a hit Recommended Videos The image generator took a hit, too. You are now capped at a hard two images per day with Nano Banana Pro, and even that comes with a warning that high demand might choke off access. To top it off, NotebookLM - which just got those cool new features to auto-generate infographics and slide decks - has hit the pause button. Those features have been temporarily pulled for free users entirely, and even paid subscribers are seeing limits. Google says it's purely a capacity issue and it hopes to bring them back soon. This is a classic case of supply and demand breaking the system. Everyone wants to use these powerful new AI models, but there simply aren't enough supercomputers to run them all at once. Google isn't alone here. We are seeing the exact same thing happen with OpenAI, Anthropic, and Perplexity. They are all realizing that giving away their best tech for free is incredibly expensive and resource-heavy. By introducing these "fluctuating" limits, Google is giving itself wiggle room to prioritize the people who are paying the bills when traffic gets heavy. Time to empty your pockets If you have been relying on the free version of Gemini to get your work done, your reliable assistant just became a lot more unpredictable. Tasks that used to be a breeze - like brainstorming a quick presentation with visuals or running a complex research query - might now hit a wall halfway through. The unpredictability is the real killer here; you can't plan your workflow around a tool that might cut you off because too many other people are using it at the same time. Google says it wants to bring full features back to NotebookLM and stabilize things as it builds more servers. But let's be honest: the direction of travel is clear. As these AI models get smarter and more popular, the "free" tier is likely going to keep shrinking. Google is gently (or not so gently) nudging power users toward its paid AI Pro or Gemini Advanced subscriptions. If you want guaranteed access to the good stuff, you're probably going to have to start paying for it.

High demand forces Google to tighten free access to Nano Banana Pro

Google has restricted free access to its Nano Banana Pro image generation model, limiting non-paying users to two images per day, down from three, due to high demand as outlined in a support document. The company updated its policies in response to surging usage of the AI system, which enables users to create and edit images. A support document, first identified by 9to5Google, specifies that free users can generate two images daily under the new restrictions. This change applies specifically to the Nano Banana Pro model, introduced as a tool for producing various visual content during periods like the current long holiday weekend. Google attributes the adjustment to elevated interest in these features. Directly from the document, Google states, "Image generation and editing is in high demand." The policy further clarifies that these limits may change frequently and will reset daily, allowing users a fresh allocation each day. This mechanism ensures ongoing access while managing server load and resource allocation for the AI infrastructure supporting the model. In parallel, Google has imposed limitations on free usage of Gemini 3 Pro, another advanced AI offering. Non-paying users receive basic access, with daily limits subject to frequent modifications. The rollout of Gemini 3 Pro began on November 18, when the company committed to providing five free prompts per day for non-subscribers. This initial limit aligned exactly with the provision for Gemini 2.5 Pro, maintaining consistency across models at launch. Subscribers to paid tiers face no alterations to their allowances. The Google AI Pro plan continues to permit 100 prompts per day, while the AI Ultra plan allows up to 500 prompts daily. These higher thresholds cater to users requiring extensive interaction with the AI systems for professional or intensive applications. Google's actions follow a pattern observed in the AI sector. OpenAI encountered similar challenges when introducing its built-in image generator for ChatGPT. The company postponed availability to free users after demand exceeded projections, straining computational resources. Despite the delay, OpenAI proceeded to extend image generation capabilities to non-paying accounts once capacity stabilized.

Google Quietly Reduces Free Gemini 3 Pro Limits Due to High Demand - Phandroid

If you've been hitting the Gemini 3 Pro free limit lately, you're not imagining things. Google has quietly scaled back how much free access users get to its advanced AI model, and the changes are pretty significant. When the Gemini 3 Pro free limit was first announced, users could send up to 5 prompts per day using the "Thinking with 3 Pro" mode and generate up to 3 images daily with the Nano Banana Pro image model. According to updated support documentation, those days are over. Free users now get what Google calls "Basic access" instead of a fixed daily prompt limit. The company warns that these limits can change frequently depending on server load, which means you might get more prompts one day and fewer the next. It's a vague downgrade from the previous 5-prompt cap that at least gave users predictable expectations. The Nano Banana Pro image model took an even bigger hit. Free users now only get 2 images per day, down from 3. Google says image generation is "in high demand" and warns that limits may fluctuate, though they reset daily. The practical impact hits hardest if you're doing longer coding sessions, complex research tasks, or anything requiring multiple iterations. What used to be workable on the free tier now pushes you toward rate limits much sooner. However, Google frames these changes as temporary responses to overwhelming demand and capacity constraints. Google AI Plus, Pro, and Ultra subscribers aren't affected by these new constraints. Those tiers keep significantly higher and more predictable limits on both Gemini 3 Pro text prompts and image generation, while free users absorb the capacity squeeze. This timing is notable considering Google's broader AI strategy. The company has been aggressively integrating Gemini across its ecosystem, from Google Maps to Google Translate and Google Chat. Tightening the free tier right as Gemini 3 Pro positions itself against competitors makes it harder for casual users to fully compare options. For anyone using Gemini 3 Pro as a daily work or school tool, Google is essentially using friction to make the paid tier feel necessary rather than optional.

Google Reportedly Applies New Limits to Free Access to Gemini 3 Pro AI Model

NotebookLM is planning to roll out the features in the future Google has changed the rate limits for users without a Google AI Pro plan for the 'Thinking' mode offered with its Gemini 3 Pro model, according to a report. While the US-based tech giant does not specify whether these rate limits will be increased or decreased, the support page has been updated to mention that they will be frequently updated. This could be the result of increasing AI demand, the report added. On the other hand, the company has made certain NotebookLM features inaccessible to people without a Google AI Pro plan due to rising demand. Google's New Gemini Access Limits Might Be Limited to the US 9to5Google spotted that Google has changed the access limits for users who are subscribed to one of the Google AI plans for Gemini. The updated support page reveals that the basic access to the Gemini 3 Pro model in 'Thinking' mode will be subject to frequent changes for free users. The support page now reads "Basic access - daily limits may change frequently". Gadgets360 was unable to verify these claims, as these changes do not appear on Google's support page for users in India. The report added that before the launch of the Gemini 3 model, the limits were set at up to five prompts per day, which is the same as the Gemini 2.5 Pro access limits. The publication believes that this likely signals a future decrease in daily limits of "Thinking With 3 Pro" for free users, considering that the tech giant has been witnessing a demand surge. However, these limits are not based on the number of prompts a user can send to the chatbot. Instead, AI models use a token-based system to determine these daily limits. Essentially, since LLMs process tokens, which are phrases and broken-down sentences, the more complex a query is, the more tokens will be exhausted. This suggests that Google's limits are dynamic, and will be based on the complexity of the query itself and the computing power required to execute the task. For example, a user might be able to enter 10 simple prompts into the AI chatbot, while the same user could only be able to six complex ones in a single day. Additionally, in a separate yet related development, the Mountain View-headquartered tech giant has announced on X that NotebookLM, an AI-powered research platform, is temporarily rolling back the Infographics and Slide Decks features for free users, while imposing additional limits for Google AI Pro subscribers. The company cites "overwhelming demand" and "capacity constraints" for this move. However, Google plans to bring these functionalities to its users in the future.