Google Rolls Out Gemini 4 Hydrogen for Search and Developers

Gemini 4 Hydrogen replaces Flash model

Google has rolled out Gemini 4 Hydrogen, replacing Gemini 3.8 Flash across the company’s products. The new model is available immediately, unlike previous Argon and Carbon releases, which were staged and began with cybersecurity researchers.

Google claims Hydrogen is a major improvement over the previous Flash model. It runs in one of four thinking levels: low, medium, high, and the new xhigh. In high mode, Google says it is 2.5 times faster than Flash 3.8. Google’s analysis also says it reduces “fabricated claims” by more than 5x. For code generation, Google says Hydrogen more than triples 3.8 Flash’s score in Terminal-Bench. In xhigh mode, Hydrogen scored 54 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, compared with 50 for Argon.

Search and developer access

Hydrogen is being integrated with Google Search, which Google describes as the biggest update to its AI-powered search tools ever. The company says the model should better handle long, multipart questions, and responses in AI Overviews and AI Mode will have more visual elements. Google also says Hydrogen’s fan-out search has been tuned to link to more sources. The update is rolling out to all Search users globally.

Access in the Gemini app and AI Studio is more restricted. The new model is live for AI Pro and Ultra subscribers, while AI Plus and free users remain on the old 3.5 Flash-Lite model. Developers can access Hydrogen via the API at $1.50 per million input tokens and $7.50 per million output tokens, unchanged from 3.8 Flash. Carbon and Argon are currently $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens, but will rise to $4 and $20 starting next month.

Why it matters

• Google says Hydrogen completes tasks 2.5 times faster than Gemini 3.8 Flash.
• Google claims Hydrogen reduces “fabricated claims” by more than 5x versus Flash 3.8.
• Hydrogen is live for AI Pro and Ultra subscribers; AI Plus and free users stay on 3.5 Flash-Lite.
• API pricing for Hydrogen is $1.50 per million input tokens and $7.50 per million output tokens.

Sources

• arstechnica.com: Google rolls out Gemini 4 Hydrogen, finally replacing 3.8 Flash - Ars Technica
• techcrunch.com: Google's latest Search upgrade promises better answers to your most complicated questions | TechCrunch

This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.