Google has launched Gemini 4 Hydrogen, replacing Gemini 3.8 Flash across Search, the Gemini app, and developer tools. The model is available immediately to all users in Search and to AI Pro and Ultra subscribers in the Gemini app and AI Studio.
Google has begun rolling out Gemini 4 Hydrogen, replacing Gemini 3.8 Flash across the company’s products. The new model is designed for fast and cost-efficient tasks previously handled by models in the Flash line.
Gemini 4 Hydrogen has four reasoning levels: low, medium, high, and the new xhigh. According to Google’s assessment, in high reasoning mode, Hydrogen operates 2.5 times faster than Gemini 3.8 Flash. The company also said that the model reduces the number of fabricated claims by more than five times. Google reports improvements in code generation: in the Terminal-Bench test, Hydrogen scored more than three times higher than Gemini 3.8 Flash. In xhigh mode, the model received 54 points in the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, while Argon has 50 points. Google positions the Argon and Carbon models as better suited for long-running tasks and security.
All users are expected to receive access to Hydrogen in Search. In the Gemini app and AI Studio, the model is already available to AI Pro and Ultra subscribers, while AI Plus users and users of the free version currently use Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite. For developers, API access costs $1.50 per million input tokens and $7.50 per million output tokens—the same price as Gemini 3.8 Flash.
Hydrogen will be integrated into Google Search. The company calls this the largest update to its AI-powered search tools. According to Google, the model should better process long, multi-part queries, while answers in AI Overviews and AI Mode will contain more visual elements. Google also claims that the fan-out search mechanism is configured to cite more sources. All users are expected to receive access to Hydrogen in Search.
The rollout replaces a widely used Flash model with a faster alternative that Google says reduces errors and improves coding performance. Unlike previous Gemini 4 releases, which began with cybersecurity researchers and paid tiers, Hydrogen is available immediately in Search and to paid subscribers in the Gemini app and AI Studio.
Sources
This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.
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