Google Gemini 3.5 Pro stuck months behind schedule as coding capabilities disappoint

Google's next flagship Gemini model reportedly stuck months behind schedule

Coding performance appears to be a major problem, despite Google recently updating the model's training data. Google will certainly feel that it belongs at the front of the AI race with the other big hitters, but its next big Gemini model is said to be struggling to get over the line. Gemini 3.5 Pro is reportedly months behind schedule as Google works to bring it up to its internal standards. According to Bloomberg, the delay is based on information from people familiar with the matter, along with ten current and former Google employees. The setback has reportedly frustrated engineers, researchers, and managers inside the company, with some worried that Anthropic and OpenAI are beginning to pull further ahead. Google had reportedly been widely expected to unveil Gemini 3.5 Pro at its developer conference in May. Coding appears to be one of the main sticking points, with Bloomberg saying Google updated the model's training data late last month in an effort to improve those abilities, only for the results to disappoint. The report suggests Google's sheer size may be working against it. Multiple teams across Google Cloud, DeepMind, Android, and other parts of the company are building AI coding tools, while several layers of stakeholders are involved in preparing models for release. Employees are also said to face competition for computing power when trying to use AI internally. Google pushed back on the idea that it is moving too slowly, with a spokesperson saying it is "shipping quickly across a wide range of models" while keeping them cost-effective. The company also confirmed that it is testing Gemini 3.5 Pro, an upgraded Flash model, and other models with partners, while discussing model testing and safety standards with the US government.

Google's next Gemini Pro is months behind schedule as coding capabilities fall short of internal goals

Google is months behind on its flagship Gemini Pro upgrade as coding falls short, frustrating engineers who are leaving for Anthropic. Google is months behind schedule on delivering the next version of its flagship AI model, Gemini Pro, because the technology has fallen short of internal goals in coding, Bloomberg reported on Thursday citing 10 current and former employees. The company was widely expected to release the upgrade at its May developer conference but has been unable to close the gap with Anthropic and OpenAI, which have both released models that outperform Google's current offerings in writing code. Alphabet shares slipped more than three percent on the news. Late last month, Google updated the data used to train Gemini in an attempt to improve its coding abilities, but the results were disappointing, according to one of the people Bloomberg spoke with. Both OpenAI and Meta recently released new models that further outpace Google's current AI for writing code, intensifying pressure on a team already struggling to ship. A Google spokesperson said the company is "shipping quickly across a wide range of models" and is testing the upgraded Pro, a new Flash model, and other models with partners. Part of the problem is structural. Google Cloud, DeepMind, and the Android team are all building AI coding tools for developers, with involvement from consumer product teams as well, creating internal competition that has slowed progress. Co-founder Sergey Brin has been pushing for the company to move faster on AI coding, but his efforts have been hampered by competing factions and by engineers who believe important code should still be written by humans to meet Google's standards, according to former employees. Google has taken steps to consolidate its fragmented coding efforts. Chief AI Architect Koray Kavukcuoglu is working to unite the company's internal AI coding tools, and a new team within DeepMind led by research engineer Sebastian Borgeaud has been formed specifically to tackle the problem. The company said at its most recent Cloud conference that 75 percent of code at Google is now AI-generated and that it has consolidated most of its developer tooling under Antigravity, the internal platform that manages data, memory, and safety protocols for AI applications. The delays have contributed to a wave of senior departures to Anthropic and other labs, with former employees saying frustration with Google's competitive position is a driving factor. Engineers who try to use AI for their own work often hit capacity constraints due to internal competition for computing power, a problem that extends to external customers as well. Only some teams inside Google are even allowed to use Anthropic's Claude, with access restricted to groups doing cutting-edge research. Customers waiting for the Pro upgrade have had mixed experiences with the current Flash model. Rodrigo Davies, a product manager at Figma, said the model hit "a sweet spot of speed and quality" for the design platform's AI assistant. But Freddy Vega, CEO of Latin American education platform Platzi, said the Flash model is more expensive and slower than its predecessor while remaining far less capable than competitors, and his team has shifted to Anthropic instead.

Gemini 3.5 Pro delays due to coding performance, upgraded Flash model in testing

In mid-May, Google announced Gemini 3.5 Flash at I/O 2026 and said the Pro version would arrive in June. On stage, Google said it was "showing great improvements." That deadline has passed with no update on when to expect it. According to Bloomberg, Google is "taking time to try to improve [Gemini 3.5 Pro's] capabilities, particularly in coding." In late June, "Google updated the data being used to train Gemini in an attempt to improve [coding] skills, but the results were disappointing." That timeline suggests that development saw a reset between I/O and the missed launch. It's unclear how the latest models are performing in other domains. Gemini 3.1 Pro dates back to February. In a statement, the company said it is "currently testing 3.5 Pro, an upgraded Flash model, and other models with partners." Google also added: "We're shipping quickly across a wide range of models while keeping them highly cost-effective for customers." Since the developer conference, updates to the Gemini app have focused on improving the user experience and rolling out the Spark agent. Today's article also has insight on the use of coding tools internally. As of April, "75% of all new code at Google is now AI-generated and approved by engineers, up from 50% last fall." Efforts to win at coding have also been up against some engineers at Google with a more purist stance, who believe that all important code should be human-written to adhere to Google standards, ex-employees said. Additionally, according to reports, engineers internally are facing AI capacity restraints with tools. An effort to "unite the company's internal artificial intelligence coding tools" is underway. In terms of developing AI coding tools for the public, Google DeepMind (AI Studio), Cloud (Vertex), and the Android team (Android Studio) all have their own efforts.

Google Gemini Launch Delayed as Tech Falls Short of Internal Goals | PYMNTS.com

The company was widely expected to release 3.5 Pro at its developer conference in May, but it is still working to improve the model's capabilities, especially in coding, according to the report. Google said in a May 19 blog post announcing the launch of Gemini 3.5 Flash: "We're also hard at work on 3.5 Pro. It's already being used internally, and we look forward to rolling it out next month." According to the Bloomberg report, the delay has been caused in part by Google's many layers of stakeholders involved in preparing models for release, the company's efforts to make the 3.5 Pro's skills in writing code more competitive with its rivals, and competing factions within Google each building their own AI coding tools. Asked about the report by Bloomberg, a Google spokesperson said, per the report: "We're shipping quickly across a wide range of models while keeping them highly cost-effective for customers." Google is also working with the U.S. government and its efforts to monitor the most advanced models, according to 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 on model testing and broader frameworks," the Google spokesperson said, per the report. PYMNTS reported in May that Gemini 3.5 Flash had become the default model across the Gemini app and Search's AI Mode; that the Gemini app was serving more than 900 million monthly users across 230 countries; and that daily queries had grown sevenfold. In remarks delivered at a Google event in May, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said: "Today we have 13 products with over a billion users each. Five of those have more than 3 billion users. Our Gemini models are a big reason more people are using our products, and why they're using our products more." Speaking of the company's latest AI models, Pichai said: "Gemini 3.5 Flash is available for everyone today across our products and APIs. We're also excited for Gemini 3.5 Pro. We are using it internally, it's showing great improvements, and it will be coming next month." For all PYMNTS AI and digital transformation coverage, subscribe to the daily AI and Digital Transformation Newsletters.