Google delays Gemini 3.5 Pro launch as coding performance falls short of internal goals

Google Gemini launch delayed as tech falls short of internal goals, Bloomberg News reports

July 16 (Reuters) - Alphabet's (GOOGL.O), opens new tab 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: Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Pooja Desai Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Alphabet shares fall on report its most powerful AI model Gemini 3.5 Pro is delayed

Google's next flagship Gemini model is reportedly months behind schedule Alphabet shares sank 4% on Thursday following a report that the company has delayed releasing its flagship artificial intelligence model. The search giant's Gemini 3.5 Pro AI model is months behind schedule due to the company's efforts to improve its performance, according to Bloomberg, citing sources familiar with the matter. The model's coding capabilities, in particular, were short of internal expectations and come at a time when rivals like OpenAI and Meta have recently debuted new AI models that outpace Google's current offerings in generating software code, the report said. The company previously announced the Gemini 3.5 Pro AI model in May as part of the company's annual Google I/O developer conference, saying at the time that it was being used internally, but wouldn't be ready for a broader rollout until the following month. An Alphabet spokesperson told CNBC in an emailed statement that the company is "shipping quickly across a wide range of models while keeping them highly cost-effective for customers." "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," the spokesperson said.

Alphabet Stock Sinks on Reports of Google Gemini Delays - Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL)

* GOOGL stock is down. See the chart and price action here. Gemini's Coding Weakness Puts Google Behind Rivals Bloomberg reported that the release of Gemini 3.5 Pro has slipped by several months as engineers work to improve the model's capabilities, particularly in coding -- an area where rivals like OpenAI and Anthropic have taken a clear lead. The delay has frustrated employees and raised concerns that Google risks ceding further ground in one of the most commercially critical segments of AI, according to sources familiar with the matter. At the core of the slowdown is organizational complexity, per Bloomberg's report. Multiple teams across Google -- including DeepMind, Cloud, Android and Search -- are simultaneously developing AI coding tools, leading to overlapping efforts, shifting priorities and slower execution. Recent attempts to improve Gemini's coding performance, including updated training data, have reportedly fallen short. Meanwhile, competitors continue to roll out more advanced models, widening the performance gap. Google Defends Pace, Highlights Ongoing Testing "We're shipping quickly across a wide range of models while keeping them highly cost-effective for customers," a Google spokesperson told Bloomberg in a statement. "We're currently testing 3.5 Pro, an upgraded Flash model, and other models with partners, and we're productively engaged with the US government on model testing and broader frameworks." The setbacks have weighed on investor sentiment, with Alphabet shares slipping following the report, highlighting growing skepticism about Google's ability to maintain its edge in AI. GOOGL Stock Price Activity: Alphabet stock was down 4.52% at $354.17 at the time of publication Thursday, according to data from Benzinga Pro. Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.

Alphabet stock falls on report of Gemini AI model delays By Investing.com

Investing.com -- Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) shares fell 2.3% Thursday afternoon following a Bloomberg report that the company's Google is months behind schedule on delivering Gemini 3.5 Pro, its most powerful flagship AI model. The delay stems from Google taking additional time to improve the model's capabilities, particularly in coding, according to people familiar with the matter cited in the report. The setback has frustrated Google engineers, AI researchers and managers, with many concerned the company risks losing market position as rivals Anthropic and OpenAI produce models that exceed Gemini's capabilities. Both OpenAI and Meta Platforms Inc. recently released new models that outpace Google's current offerings in AI for writing code. Late last month, Google updated the data being used to train Gemini to improve these skills, but the results were disappointing, according to the report. A Google spokesperson said the company is shipping quickly across a wide range of models while keeping them cost-effective for customers. The spokesperson added that Google is currently testing 3.5 Pro, an upgraded Flash model, and other models with partners, and is engaged with the US government on model testing and broader frameworks. The report noted that Google's structure, with multiple layers of stakeholders involved in preparing models for release and working to integrate AI across a vast product portfolio including search, maps and YouTube, can cause delays. Google has also been in talks with the US government, which has been increasingly monitoring AI companies' most advanced models, about its capabilities and industry safety standards.

Alphabet slips after reports of a delay for Gemini 3.5 Pro

According to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, Google has postponed the launch of Gemini 3.5 Pro by several months to improve performance ahead of a broad rollout. The model's coding capabilities are said to be below internal expectations, at a time when code generation has become one of the main battlegrounds among artificial intelligence labs. Unveiled in May at the Google I/O conference, Gemini 3.5 Pro was already being used internally, but its commercial launch had been announced for a later date. Asked by CNBC, an Alphabet spokesperson said the company continued to roll out new models quickly while ensuring it maintained strong cost competitiveness. The spokesperson also said Gemini 3.5 Pro, a new version of Flash, and other models were currently being tested with several partners, while noting that discussions with the US government were continuing. The delay comes as competition heats up in the market for programming-focused models. Last week, Meta unveiled Muse Spark 1.1, described by its chief AI officer, Alexandr Wang, as the group's best-performing model for coding tasks and AI agents. For its part, OpenAI launched GPT-5.6 Sol AI. Chief executive Sam Altman says the model improves token-processing efficiency by 54% in programming tasks carried out by AI agents. Anthropic, as well as several Chinese labs including Z.ai, are also intensifying competition with open-weight models available for free through the open-source ecosystem. The reported postponement of Gemini 3.5 Pro underscores the pressure now bearing down on the leading artificial intelligence players. Beyond the pace of releases, labs are trying to deliver ever more capable models, especially for software development use cases, while keeping operating costs under control. In this technology race, every delay is closely watched by investors, who are assessing whether the tech giants can hold on to their lead against increasingly aggressive competition.