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Google rolls out Gemini 4 Hydrogen, finally replacing 3.8 Flash
Google has rolled out Gemini 4 Hydrogen, replacing Gemini 3.8 Flash across its products. The model is designed to bring faster, cheaper AI to everyday tasks and developers, while also powering a major update to Google Search.
Google says Hydrogen is 2.5 times faster than 3.8 Flash even at high thinking mode, and makes more than five times fewer fabricated claims. It more than triples Flash’s Terminal-Bench coding score and scores 54 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index in xhigh mode, compared with Argon’s 50. Hydrogen is available in Search and to AI Pro and Ultra subscribers in the Gemini app and AI Studio; free and AI Plus users there remain on Flash-Lite. API prices are unchanged at $1.50 per million input tokens and $7.50 per million output tokens.
In short
- Hydrogen replaces Gemini 3.8 Flash across Google products.
- Google says it is 2.5 times faster and makes fewer fabricated claims.
- Free and AI Plus app users do not yet get Hydrogen.
Explained simply
Google’s Gemini is a family of artificial intelligence models that can answer questions, work with text and help with tasks such as coding. Different versions are used in Google services and offered to developers, who can build their own tools using Google’s models.
Google also uses Gemini in Search, where AI can help interpret questions and present answers. Access to models in the Gemini app and AI Studio varies by subscription, while developers can use the API, a way for software to send requests to a model. These differences matter because a model’s speed, reliability and cost can affect how useful it is to everyday users and businesses.