Gemini users who were hoping to see the launch of Gemini 3.5 Pro at Google I/O 2026 have been left disappointed. At the developer conference in May, the company introduced the Gemini 3.5 Flash model that is lightweight for everyday use. However, Google CEO Sundar Pichai assured the audience that the Gemini 3.5 Pro will follow in June.
“We’re also excited about the 3.5 Pro,” Photosi said at the pre-Google I/O press conference. “We’re using it internally. It’s showing great improvement. We’re still testing it and refining it, and it will be rolled out to everyone next month.”
As of July 17th, there is no sign of the model.
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So, where is the Gemini 3.5 Pro?
Yesterday, Bloomberg published a report about the delayed launch, with reporters Julia Love and Davey Alba writing that “The delay has caused frustration among Google engineers, AI researchers, and executives, who worry that the company is in danger of losing its edge in the market to competitors Anthropic and OpenAI.”
Mashable reached out to Google with questions about the Gemini 3.5 Pro’s launch timeline, and the company provided the same statement it shared with Bloomberg.
Mashable Light Speed
“We’re shipping quickly on a wide variety of models while keeping them affordable for customers. We’re currently testing the 3.5 Pro, an advanced Flash model, and other models with partners, and we’re working closely with the US government to test a wide range of models and frameworks.”
While a one-month delay is usually not a big deal, the AI industry has been moving at lightning speed in recent months. The longer Google waits to release Gemini 3.5, the higher the performance bar must open to keep up with its competitors. According to Bloomberg, even Meta has released a new model that surpasses Google Gemini.
A Bloomberg report suggests that there are two reasons behind the delay of the Gemini 3.5 Pro. The first is bureaucratic. Due to the size of Google’s organization and the number of products that Gemini integrates with, delays are inevitable when it comes to soft AI implementations. Second, Bloomberg has learned that Google executives are concerned that the Gemini 3.5 Pro may not compete with the latest releases of their rivals.
From Google I/O 2026, Anthropic announced that it is launching its most advanced model ever, the Claude Mythos Preview. The AI company said the model has such advanced cybersecurity capabilities that it will only be shared with trusted partners. Anthropic finally released a version of Claude Mythos called Fable 5 on June 9th.
On July 9, OpenAI announced its next-generation model with advanced cybersecurity coding capabilities, GPT-5.6 Sol.
This week, Chinese AI lab Moonshot released Kimi K3, a massive open source model with 2.8 trillion parameters. Early testers say it has the same capabilities as the Fable 5 and GPT-5.6 Sol, only at a much lower cost.
Despite its new frontier model, Google has fallen to the bottom of the AI leaderboard, despite its huge gains in the AI arms race. Not only does Google have unprecedented access to the world’s data, but it can also put its AI tools directly into the hands of billions of Android users around the world.
The Gemini 3.5 Pro may be launched soon, but while Google is studying the model for release, the competition will continue.
