Google Announces Gemini 2.0, Promises Double the Speed and Enhanced Features

Google’s latest (artificial intelligence) AI innovation, Gemini 2.0, has officially launched, kicking off with Gemini 2.0 Flash. Google touts the new model as having the capability to deliver double the speed of its predecessor, Gemini Pro 1.5, while offering advanced capabilities in reasoning, video analysis, and native multimodal outputs like text, image, and speech generation.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai said that Gemini 2.0’s reasoning abilities will enhance tools like AI Overviews in Google Search, making responses to complex queries more accurate.

“Today we’re excited to launch our next era of models built for this new agentic era: introducing Gemini 2.0, our most capable model yet. With new advances in multimodality — like native image and audio output — and native tool use, it will enable us to build new AI agents that bring us closer to our vision of a universal assistant,” Pichai said in a Google Blog post.

The new version improves from the “chatbot era” of AI to what Google calls the “agent era,” where models autonomously perform tasks like browsing the web or compiling research without direct human input.

Meanwhile, Gemini’s tools will aid in making its use easier. Project Astra will act as a universal assistant, while Mariner explores human-agent browser interactions.

Moreover, Jules, a specialized code agent, offers tailored support for developers, highlighting the versatility of Gemini’s ecosystem.
Gemini 2.0 Flash is currently labeled experimental, with users subscribed to Gemini Advanced having access to it via the drop-down menu. (GFB)