Google released the first version of its Gemini 2.0 family of artificial intelligence models in December 2024
Gemini 2.0 Flash, as the model is named is available in a chat version for users worldwide, while experimental multimodal version of the model, with text-to-speech image generation capabilities, available to developers.
‘If Gemini 1.0 was about organising and understanding information, Gemini 2.0 is about making it much more useful,’ Google CEO Sundar Pichai reportedly said in a statement.
Google’s latest large language model surpasses its predecessors in most user request areas, including code generation and the ability to provide factually accurate responses. However, it falls short compared to Gemini1.5 Pro when it comes evaluating longer contexts.
To access the chat-optimized version of the experimental Flash 2.0, Gemini users can select from the drop-down menu on both desktop and mobile web platforms. According to the company it will soon be available on the Gemini mobile app.
The multimodal version of Gemini Flash .0 will be accessible through Google’s AI Studio and Vertex AI developer platforms.
The general availability of Gemini 2.0 Flash’s multimodal version is scheduled for January, along with additional Gemini 2.0 model sizes, Google announced. The company also plans to expand Gemini 20 to more Google products in early 2025.
Gemini 2.0 signifies Google’s latest efforts in the increasingly competitive AI industry. Google is competing with major tech rivals such as Microsoft and Meta, as well as startups like OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Anthropic, which developed Claude.
In addition to new Flash, other research prototypes are aimed at developing more ‘agentic’ AI models and experiences. According to the company, agentic models ‘can understand more about the world around you, think multiple steps ahead, and take action on your behalf, with your supervision’.
