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Google launches Gemini 4 Argon, its former top model

Google launches Gemini 4 Argon, its former top model

New Capabilities

Google's newer Carbon model is now public, and the introductory API price shared by Carbon and Argon ends November 30.

Today: AI Mode help page lists Carbon for Ultra subscribers

Overview

Updated 4 minutes ago

Google released Gemini 4 Carbon publicly on November 10, making its strongest model available to paid developers, businesses and Google AI Ultra subscribers. Carbon is built for long, multi-step work such as complex coding, scientific research and finding software vulnerabilities.

Gemini 4 Argon, which opened to everyone on October 13, remains available, but Carbon has taken the top spot in Google's lineup. Both models cost $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens until November 30, when the price doubles to $4 and $20.

Why it matters

Google's top model is now open to paying builders at a discount that expires November 30, giving them a cheaper third option.

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Key Indicators

$2 / $10
Introductory API price per million tokens (input/output)
The rate runs through November 30, 2026, then rises to $4 / $20. Carbon carries the same introductory price as Argon.
60
Carbon's Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index score
Artificial Analysis later regraded Carbon to 60 on high effort; its October debut score was 59. Argon scored 50.
88.2%
Carbon's SEC-bench Pro score
Share of the SEC-bench Pro vulnerability-finding benchmark that Carbon solved, per Google.
65
Claude Fable 5.2's Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index score
Anthropic's model leads the current index at 65, ahead of Carbon at 60 and GPT-6 Astra at 57.

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People Involved

Sundar Pichai
Sundar Pichai
Chief executive of Alphabet and Google
Oversaw Argon's general release on October 13 and Carbon's public release on November 10.
 Demis Hassabis
Demis Hassabis
Chief executive of Google DeepMind
Led Google DeepMind as it trained Argon and Carbon; Carbon became public on November 10.

Organizations Involved

Google
Google
Technology company
Gemini 4 Argon is generally available, and Gemini 4 Carbon was released publicly on November 10 to paid developers, businesses and AI Ultra subscribers.

Owns Google DeepMind; released Gemini 4 Argon globally on October 13 and Gemini 4 Carbon publicly on November 10.
Google DeepMind
Google DeepMind
AI company
Trained Gemini 4 Argon and Carbon; Carbon became public on November 10.

Google's AI lab, responsible for training the Gemini model family including Argon and Carbon.
Wiz
Wiz
Cloud security firm
Early user of Argon through its Scan for Good initiative

Cybersecurity firm deploying Argon to find and fix vulnerabilities in critical public infrastructure.

Timeline

July 2026 November 2026

8 events Latest: Today
Tap a bar to jump to that date

  1. AI Mode help page lists Carbon for Ultra subscribers

    Today Product change

    Google's AI Mode help page now names Gemini 4 Carbon as the advanced model for Google AI Ultra subscribers 18 and older. Argon no longer appears on that page.

  2. Google releases Gemini 4 Carbon publicly

    Product launch

    Carbon became available through the paid Gemini API, Gemini for business and to Google AI Ultra subscribers in the Gemini app, AI Mode and Antigravity. Google kept the same $2 / $10 introductory price as Argon through November 30.

  3. Google announces Gemini 4 Carbon as its strongest model

    Product launch

    Carbon scores 59 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index v5, above Argon's 50. It starts with selected cyber defenders, with wider access through the Fairwind Program.

  4. Argon goes generally available as Fairwind expands

    Program expansion

    Google released Gemini 4 Argon globally to developers and enterprises through the API and Gemini for business. It also said it would open the Fairwind Program to hundreds of additional cybersecurity partners.

  5. Argon restricted access begins

    Product launch

    Initial cohort of cyber defenders and government testers gets access through the Fairwind Program.

  6. Google unveils Gemini 4 Argon

    Product launch

    Flagship announced and limited to vetted cyber defenders and U.S. government testers.

  7. Google cancels Gemini 3.5 Pro

    Release

    Reuters reported Google announced in September it no longer planned to release Gemini 3.5 Pro, which CEO Sundar Pichai had said would be released in June.

  8. Google rolls out smaller Flash models

    Release

    Lighter, lower-cost Flash models release through the summer while the company prepares its flagship.

Scenarios

1

Google opens Argon to API customers and AI Ultra subscribers

Likely Resolves by Q2 2027

Discussed by: Google's own announcement; Ars Technica and InfoWorld on the restricted release

Google opened Argon to paid developers and enterprises on October 13, 2026, and to AI Ultra subscribers in its consumer products. The restricted phase ended with that release.

2

A rival model tops Argon's benchmark scores

Possible Resolves by Q2 2027

Discussed by: Artificial Analysis, the benchmarking firm that tracks model intelligence indices

Artificial Analysis puts Anthropic's Claude Fable 5.2 at 65 on its Intelligence Index, ahead of Carbon at 60 and GPT-6 Astra at 57. Google's lead at the frontier has narrowed.

3

Security incident or misuse tied to Argon's guardrail-free release

Unlikely Resolves by Q2 2027

Discussed by: SecurityWeek and Google's Frontier Safety Framework

Google released Argon to cyber defenders without cyber guardrails so it can defend at full capability. If those capabilities are misused, or a model-suggested patch contains a flaw, it could produce a notable security incident. Google says it monitors internal activations and chain-of-thought to catch misuse.

4

November price hike slows enterprise adoption

Possible Resolves by End of 2026

Discussed by: Forbes, Reuters, industry pricing trackers

Google's introductory price of $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens ends November 30, when it doubles to $4 and $20. Developers may scale back or switch to rivals if the higher cost outweighs Carbon's benchmark gains.

5

Gemini 4 Carbon reaches developers and paid subscribers

Likely Resolves by End of 2026

Discussed by: Google's Carbon announcement

Google released Carbon publicly on November 10 to paid developers, businesses and AI Ultra subscribers. That moved Carbon to the top of Google's lineup and pushed Argon down.

Historical Context

2 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

February 2023

Google Bard stumble (February 2023)

Google rushed to answer OpenAI's ChatGPT with Bard, a chat AI. A demo showed Bard incorrectly claiming the James Webb Space Telescope took the first images of an exoplanet. Alphabet's market value dropped roughly $100 billion in the days after the error.

Then

Google pledged more careful testing and pulled back from aggressive AI launches.

Now

Google adopted staged, evaluation-heavy releases for its flagship models.

Why this matters now

Argon's phased, restricted release comes straight from that lesson: Google now withholds its best model until it is red-teamed and vetted.

March 2023

OpenAI's staged GPT-4 rollout (March 2023)

OpenAI released GPT-4 gradually, first to paid ChatGPT Plus subscribers and a handful of developers, after months of safety evaluation and red-teaming. Access was scarce for weeks.

Then

Scarce access built demand and let OpenAI monitor real-world use.

Now

Staged, safety-gated launches became the norm at frontier AI labs.

Why this matters now

Argon follows the same template: trusted testers first, broader access later, with a documented safety framework.

Sources

(29)
+23
Google (official blog) TechCrunch CNBC Africa CNBC Ars Technica SecurityWeek Engadget InfoWorld The Indian Express DAWN Reuters via Investing.com Google Cloud Blog Google AI Studio The Verge Forbes Primary Thought The Decoder MarkTechPost VentureBeat 9to5Google Docs Watch Google (regional blog) Google (official blog) Google (official blog) Google (official blog) Engadget The Verge Google (official blog) The Verge