Google is officially upgrading Gemini to the 1.5 Flash AI model. It'll be able to handle prompts more quickly and process more content in the same amount of time.
In a blog post, Google said it's rolling out 1.5 Flash to the free version of Gemini on the web and mobile starting today, which means you can try it right now.
Google's Amar Subramanya, Vice President, Engineering, Gemini Experiences, said the company is "upgrading our free-tier experience to Gemini 1.5 Flash. With Gemini 1.5 Flash, you'll notice across-the-board improvements in quality and latency, with especially noticeable improvements in reasoning and image understanding."
Google is also greatly expanding the context window for Gemini to 32K tokens. "That means you can have longer back-and-forth conversations and ask Gemini more complex questions — all free of charge," Subramanya noted.
Going head-to-head with ChatGPT and its GPT-4o, Google announced that you'll be able to use the larger context window to upload files via Google Drive or directly from your device with the free version of Gemini, a feature previously hidden behind the Gemini Advanced paywall. The company cited an example of uploading an economics study guide and asking Gemini to create practice questions for you.
The new 1.5 Flash model is rolling out in over 40 languages and more than 230 countries and territories, so there's a good chance you'll have access to it no matter where you live.
In other Gemini news, Google said it would gradually roll the AI features out in Google Messages to users in the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland.
Google also revealed that it will start displaying links to related content for fact-seeking prompts in Gemini, which could help guide you down interesting roads while researching. "This isn’t limited to websites: If Gemini’s response references information found using the Gmail extension, you'll also see inline links to relevant emails," Subramanya explained in the blog post.
Finally, Google said it will expand Gemini access to teenagers globally in over 40 languages over the next week. It will be helpful in better understanding school subjects, preparing for university or getting help with creative projects.
