Google's next flagship Gemini model reportedly stuck months behind schedule

Google's next flagship Gemini model is reportedly months behind schedule, according to a Bloomberg report published Thursday. The report, citing people familiar with the matter and ten current and former Google employees, said Gemini 3.5 Pro is struggling to meet internal standards. The delay has frustrated engineers, researchers, and managers, with some worried that rivals Anthropic and OpenAI are pulling ahead. Google had been widely expected to unveil the model at its developer conference in May. Coding performance appears to be a major sticking point. Bloomberg reported that Google updated the model's training data late last month to improve coding abilities, but the results disappointed. The report suggested Google's size may be working against it, with multiple teams across Google Cloud, DeepMind, Android, and other divisions building AI coding tools while several layers of stakeholders are involved in release preparation. Employees also reportedly face competition for computing power. A Google spokesperson pushed back on the idea the company is moving too slowly, saying it is "shipping quickly across a wide range of models" while keeping them cost-effective. The company confirmed it is testing Gemini 3.5 Pro, an upgraded Flash model, and other models with partners, while discussing model testing and safety standards with the U.S. government.