Google has launched Gemini 3 Flash, a faster and more affordable version of its recently released Gemini 3 model. The move is designed to compete directly with OpenAI and is immediately making Gemini 3 Flash the default model in the Gemini app and AI-powered search features. This development signals an escalation in the rapidly evolving AI landscape, where speed, performance, and cost are key differentiators.
Performance Benchmarks: Gemini 3 Flash vs. Competitors
The new model demonstrates significant improvements over its predecessor, Gemini 2.5 Flash. Testing shows that Gemini 3 Flash delivers performance comparable to leading models like Gemini 3 Pro and OpenAI’s GPT-5.2 in several key areas. For example, on Humanity’s Last Exam (a broad knowledge benchmark), Gemini 3 Flash scored 33.7%, matching GPT-5.2 at 34.5% and surpassing Gemini 2.5 Flash at 11%.
Even more impressively, Gemini 3 Flash leads in multimodal reasoning, achieving an 81.2% score on the MMMU-Pro benchmark, outperforming all other tested models. These results confirm Google’s aggressive push for a competitive AI solution.
Consumer and Enterprise Rollout
Google is immediately deploying Gemini 3 Flash as the default for all users in the Gemini app, replacing the older Gemini 2.5 Flash. Users who require more advanced math or coding capabilities can still switch to the Pro model through the model picker.
The model’s strengths include enhanced multimodal understanding, meaning it can process and respond to combined inputs like videos, sketches, and audio recordings. Google highlights that this enables features such as:
- Analyzing pickleball videos for tips.
- Guessing sketches from user drawings.
- Generating quizzes from audio recordings.
Enterprise users, including JetBrains, Figma, Cursor, Harvey, and Latitude, are already integrating Gemini 3 Flash via Vertex AI and Gemini Enterprise. Developers can access the model through Google’s API and the new Antigravity coding tool.
Pricing and Efficiency Gains
Gemini 3 Flash is priced at $0.50 per 1 million input tokens and $3.00 per 1 million output tokens – slightly higher than Gemini 2.5 Flash ($0.30/$2.50). However, Google claims that the new model offers three times faster speeds while outperforming the 2.5 Pro model.
Furthermore, Gemini 3 Flash uses approximately 30% fewer tokens for many tasks compared to the older model, meaning users can potentially reduce costs despite the slightly higher per-token rate. This makes it a cost-effective solution for high-volume applications.
The Competitive Landscape
The release of Gemini 3 Flash comes amid heightened competition with OpenAI. Reports indicate that OpenAI issued an internal “Code Red” alert after ChatGPT traffic declined following Google’s recent AI releases. OpenAI responded by releasing GPT-5.2 and a new image generation model, while also emphasizing its growing enterprise usage.
Google acknowledges the industry-wide push for innovation and believes that the ongoing competition is driving progress. The company is processing over 1 trillion tokens daily through its API, signaling its commitment to maintaining a leading position in AI development.
“All of these models are continuing to be awesome, challenge each other, push the frontier,” says Tulsee Doshi, Google’s head of Product for Gemini Models.
The launch of Gemini 3 Flash underscores Google’s intent to remain a major player in the AI race, offering a competitive blend of performance, speed, and cost efficiency.
