Gemini 4 is Google's flagship AI model unveiled at Google I/O 2026 on May 19, 2026. It's natively multimodal (text, image, video, audio, code), targets up to a 10M-token context window, runs on Google's seventh-generation Ironwood TPU, and is the model powering Gemini Intelligence on Android, Search AI Mode, and the new Googlebook line. Early leaked benchmarks reported around 84.6% on ARC-AGI2 versus roughly 52% for Gemini 2.5 Pro.

How is Gemini 4 different from Gemini 3.1 Ultra?

Three big upgrades: (1) a much larger context window — up to 10 million tokens versus Gemini 3.1 Ultra's 2 million, (2) deeper agentic behaviour (Gemini 4 is the model behind Gemini Intelligence's multi-step Android workflows), and (3) substantially stronger reasoning, with leaked ARC-AGI2 numbers showing a roughly 30+ point jump. It's also the first Google flagship optimized end-to-end for the Ironwood (TPU7x) inference fabric.

How does Gemini 4 compare to GPT-5.5 and Claude Opus 4.7?

All three are May 2026 frontier-class models. Gemini 4 leads on context length (10M tokens) and multimodal generation (video, audio, robotics). GPT-5.5 (and GPT-5.5 Instant, the new ChatGPT default) wins on low-latency conversational defaults and is strong on grounded reasoning. Claude Opus 4.7 still leads on agentic coding (highest SWE-bench score among the three) and is the preferred model in Anthropic's Managed Agents stack. Pick by workload, not brand.

When and how can I use Gemini 4?

Gemini 4 went live across Google's surfaces during Google I/O 2026 (May 19-20). It powers the Gemini app, AI Mode in Google Search, Gemini Intelligence on supported Android devices (12 GB+ RAM, flagship chips like Pixel 10 and Galaxy S26), Android Studio, and the Vertex AI Gemini API. Developer access ships through the Gemini API and Vertex AI; consumer access ships through the Gemini app and Android.

Quick Answer

What Is Gemini 4? Google's Next-Gen AI Model (May 2026)

Published: May 19, 2026

What Is Gemini 4? Google’s Next-Gen AI Model (May 2026)

Google unveiled Gemini 4 at the Google I/O 2026 keynote on May 19, 2026. It’s the model behind the new Gemini Intelligence agentic layer on Android, AI Mode in Search, Googlebooks, and Android XR glasses — and it runs on Google’s seventh-generation Ironwood TPU.

Last verified: May 19, 2026

Quick facts

Property	Value
Announced	May 19, 2026 (Google I/O 2026 keynote)
Vendor	Google DeepMind
Context window	Up to 10 million tokens
Modalities	Text, image, video, audio, code, robotics signals
Compute	Google’s Ironwood TPU (TPU7x)
ARC-AGI2 (leaked)	~84.6% (vs ~52% for Gemini 2.5 Pro)
Successor to	Gemini 3.1 Pro / 3.1 Ultra
Powering	Gemini app, AI Mode in Search, Gemini Intelligence on Android, Android Studio, Vertex AI

What’s actually new

Gemini 4 isn’t just a number bump. The shift is what kind of model Google is shipping:

10M-token context window — 5x bigger than Gemini 3.1 Ultra (2M). Enables whole-codebase reasoning, long-document analysis, and multi-week conversation memory.
Native multimodal generation — high-fidelity video, music, and spatial-aware outputs for AR / robotics, not just text + image.
Agentic-first design — this is the model wired into Gemini Intelligence’s multi-step Android workflows. “Find my syllabus in Gmail, identify the textbooks, add them to my Amazon cart” is a single-prompt task.
Ironwood-optimized inference — Google’s seventh-gen TPU. ~10x peak performance vs TPU v5p and 4x better per-chip performance vs Trillium for training and inference.

Benchmarks (publicly cited)

Benchmark	Gemini 4 (leaked)	Gemini 2.5 Pro	Notes
ARC-AGI2	~84.6%	~52%	Reasoning under novel constraints
Context	10M tokens	1M tokens	10x jump from 2.5

Google has not yet published the full benchmark sheet (SWE-bench, MMMU, GPQA, etc.) at time of writing — expect official numbers in the days following I/O.

What Gemini 4 powers

Surface	What it does
Gemini app	Default model for the consumer assistant
AI Mode in Google Search	Conversational, cited answers with multi-step reasoning
Gemini Intelligence on Android	Agentic, cross-app workflows on Pixel 10 / Galaxy S26+
Android Studio	Multi-step engineering tasks across a project
Vertex AI Gemini API	Developer access for building on Gemini 4
Android XR glasses	Real-time translation, visual context, navigation
Googlebook (autumn 2026)	Magic Pointer, Create My Widget, on-device + cloud AI

How it compares (May 2026 frontier models)

	Gemini 4	GPT-5.5	Claude Opus 4.7
Vendor	Google	OpenAI	Anthropic
Context	10M tokens	(per OpenAI tier)	1M tokens (Mythos / 4.7 long-context)
Strength	Multimodal + context	Conversational + grounded	Agentic coding (SWE-bench leader)
Default surface	Gemini app, Search AI Mode	ChatGPT (GPT-5.5 Instant)	Claude.ai, Claude Code
Agent runtime	Gemini Enterprise / Vertex agents	OpenAI Workspace agents	Claude Managed Agents

Rule of thumb in May 2026:

Need raw multimodal + huge context? Gemini 4.
Need low-latency conversational defaults + ChatGPT distribution? GPT-5.5.
Need autonomous coding agents? Claude Opus 4.7.

Where Gemini 4 wins

Long-context workloads — 10M tokens demolishes most rivals’ practical limits.
Multimodal generation — video, audio, and spatial reasoning baked in, not bolted on.
Android distribution — the only frontier model wired into the world’s largest mobile OS as a default agent layer.
Google product graph — Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Photos, Maps, YouTube context is on-tap.
TPU economics — Ironwood is the only major vendor-owned alternative to NVIDIA at this performance class.

Where it might not be the right call

Pure agentic coding — Opus 4.7 still leads SWE-bench in May 2026.
Enterprise data residency outside Google Cloud — Bedrock-managed Anthropic / OpenAI may suit better.
Off-Android consumer reach — ChatGPT still has the larger consumer userbase.

What ships when

Today (May 19, 2026) — Gemini app, AI Mode, Vertex AI, Android Studio.
Coming weeks — broader Gemini Intelligence rollout to Pixel 10 / Galaxy S26 / S26 Ultra.
Autumn 2026 — Googlebooks ship with Gemini 4-powered Magic Pointer and Aluminum OS.
2026 ongoing — Android XR glasses (consumer launch window).

TL;DR

Gemini 4 is Google’s first model designed for the agentic era — 10M tokens, native multimodality, Ironwood TPU, and wired into Android, Search, Studio, and XR. It’s the answer Google needed before Microsoft Build (June 2-3) and the next OpenAI DevDay.