When Does Gemini 3.5 Pro Release? (June 2026 Target)
When Does Gemini 3.5 Pro Release? (June 2026 Target)
Gemini 3.5 Pro is targeted for release in June 2026, according to Google’s Gemini 3.5 announcement at Google I/O 2026 on May 19. Here’s everything known and rumored as of May 22, 2026.
Last verified: May 22, 2026
Quick facts
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Status | Announced at I/O 2026 (May 19, 2026) |
| Target release | June 2026 |
| Family | Gemini 3.5 (alongside 3.5 Flash, shipped May 19) |
| Default surface | Gemini API, AI Studio, Gemini app |
| Expected context | 1,000,000+ tokens |
| Expected pricing | Unannounced (likely $3–5 input / $15–30 output per 1M) |
| Deep Think mode | Yes, premium-only at launch |
| Free tier access | Likely later (free tier has 3.5 Flash now) |
What Google actually announced at I/O 2026
Google’s Gemini 3.5 announcement on May 19, 2026 introduced the family, with two confirmed models:
| Model | Status | Default for |
|---|---|---|
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | Live May 19, 2026 | Gemini app, AI Mode, Antigravity CLI |
| Gemini 3.5 Pro | Rolling out next month (June 2026) | Higher-quality reasoning, Deep Think |
Mashable, AP, and Engadget all reported the June 2026 timing based on Google’s keynote messaging. Google did not provide a specific date.
Why Google split the family this way
Gemini 3.5 Flash hits an Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index around the mid-50s at one-third the price of Claude Opus 4.7, with frontier-class output speed. That’s the model Google wants powering Search (AI Mode), Antigravity CLI, the new Gemini app default, and information agents — anywhere scale matters more than peak reasoning.
Gemini 3.5 Pro is the answer to the other question: “When the task is hard, expensive, multi-step, or competition-grade, do you have the best model?” Pro is expected to:
- Lead on competition coding benchmarks (HumanEval, SWE-Bench Verified)
- Top math benchmarks (AIME, FrontierMath)
- Handle multi-hour agentic loops better than Flash
- Enable Deep Think — a Gemini 3 Pro reasoning mode that scaled up, accessible to Google AI Ultra subscribers
- Push Google’s Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index into the high-60s, putting it competitive with GPT-5.5 and Claude Opus 4.7 at the top of the leaderboard
Pricing — what to expect
Google hasn’t disclosed Gemini 3.5 Pro API pricing as of May 22, 2026. Reasonable projection based on prior pricing patterns:
| Model | Input / 1M | Output / 1M | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | $1.50 | $9.00 | Confirmed May 19, 2026 |
| Gemini 3.1 Pro | $2.50 | $15.00 | Current Pro tier |
| Gemini 3.5 Pro (projected) | $3–5 | $15–30 | Likely range based on Pro precedent |
| GPT-5.5 | $5.00 | $30.00 | OpenAI’s frontier |
| Claude Opus 4.7 | $15.00 | $75.00 | Anthropic’s frontier |
Even at the top end, Gemini 3.5 Pro should remain meaningfully cheaper than Claude Opus 4.7 and roughly aligned with GPT-5.5, continuing Google’s pattern of competing on price-quality ratio.
Consumer pricing — Gemini app and Workspace
The new Google AI Ultra $100/mo tier announced at I/O 2026 is built for power users who’ll want 3.5 Pro:
| Tier | Cost / mo | Gemini 3.5 Flash | Gemini 3.5 Pro (when live) | Deep Think |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Yes (low quota) | Likely no initially | No |
| Google AI Pro | $19.99 | Yes | Yes (limited) | No |
| Google AI Ultra $100 | $99.99 | Yes (priority) | Yes (priority) | Likely beta |
| Google AI Ultra $200 | $199.99 | Yes (priority) | Yes (highest quota) | Yes |
Deep Think mode (the reasoning-extended variant) has historically been Ultra-exclusive at launch, then trickled to Pro.
How to get early access
There’s no public early-access program announced for 3.5 Pro as of May 22, 2026. Practical access path when it ships in June:
- AI Studio (ai.google.dev) — Developer playground, typically gets new models first. Free tier, rate-limited.
- Gemini API — Becomes available shortly after AI Studio.
- Gemini app — Premium subscribers (Ultra first, then Pro) get app access next.
- Antigravity 2.0 + Antigravity CLI — Will gain Pro as a selectable model.
- AI Mode in Search — Gets it last, gated to Personal Intelligence-enabled users in select regions initially.
Best signal to watch: Logan Kilpatrick’s Twitter, the Google AI dev blog, and the ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/changelog release notes.
How it will likely compare to GPT-5.5 and Claude Opus 4.7
| Gemini 3.5 Pro (projected) | GPT-5.5 | Claude Opus 4.7 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | High-60s (target) | ~60 | ~62 |
| Context window | 1M+ | 1M | 200K |
| Default reasoning mode | Deep Think (Ultra) | Thinking | Extended thinking |
| SWE-Bench Pro | TBD | Strong | Leader |
| Cost (output / 1M) | $15–30 (projected) | $30 | $75 |
| Best for | Best price-quality ratio | Agentic coding pipelines | Highest-stakes coding |
| Multimodal (video / image) | Best in class | Strong | Improving |
The pattern: Anthropic’s Opus 4.7 stays the gold standard for high-stakes single-shot coding; OpenAI’s GPT-5.5 stays the best for agentic pipelines; Google’s 3.5 Pro takes the “best ratio” crown if pricing lands as projected, plus the lead on multimodal (video/image reasoning).
What might slip the date
Things that have historically delayed Gemini Pro releases:
- Safety testing. Deep Think mode requires extended safety testing; previous Pro launches have slipped 1–4 weeks at this gate.
- Regulatory. EU AI Act compliance audits for frontier models can add weeks.
- Compute availability. A capacity-driven slip is possible given AI Ultra demand from I/O 2026.
- Competitive timing. If OpenAI announces GPT-6 or Anthropic ships Claude 5 in early June, Google may delay 3.5 Pro to either pre-empt or out-launch.
TL;DR
- Target release: June 2026. No specific date announced.
- Sits at the top of the Gemini 3.5 family above 3.5 Flash (which is already live).
- Likely $3–5 / $15–30 per 1M tokens — undercutting GPT-5.5 and dramatically cheaper than Claude Opus 4.7.
- Deep Think mode will be Ultra-exclusive at launch.
- Best access path: be on Google AI Ultra, watch the Gemini API changelog and AI Studio.
Sources
- Mashable: “All the Gemini announcements from Google I/O 2026” (May 19, 2026)
- AP: “Google I/O Gemini developers conference” (May 19, 2026)
- Engadget: “Everything Google announced at I/O 2026” (May 19, 2026)
- Google blog: “Gemini 3: Introducing the latest Gemini AI model from Google”
- Codersera: “Gemini 3.5 Release Date & Status” (May 19, 2026)