# The Verge — Google says its new Gemini 3.8 Flash model ‘works harder’ but might cost more

- Company: The Verge (theverge.com)
- Announced: 2026-09-02T20:11:40+00:00
- Category: new-model
- Coverage: 26 outlets
- Announcement: yes
- Group: models
- Source: https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/988742/google-gemini-3-8-flash
- Record: https://forck.live/items/7441-google-says-its-new-gemini-3-8-flash-model-works-harder-but-might-cost-more
- Subject: Reporting
- Models affected: Gemini 3.8 Flash, Gemini 3.8 Flash Cyber
- Pricing: $0.75 per million input tokens and $3.75 per million output tokens

[Google](https://storage.googleapis.com/deepmind-media/Model-Cards/Gemini-3-8-Flash-Model-Card.pdf) launched Gemini 3.8 Flash, a new model that performs more reasoning steps and calls tools iteratively. It has the same introductory pricing as its predecessor but may cost more due to higher token usage. [Google](https://storage.googleapis.com/deepmind-media/Model-Cards/Gemini-3-8-Flash-Model-Card.pdf) also released Gemini 3.8 Flash Cyber for its Fairwind Program, limited to governments and trusted partners.

## Evidence

Verbatim from https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/988742/google-gemini-3-8-flash:

> Google launched Gemini 3.8 Flash , arriving just a few weeks after its predecessor . The company claims the new model “works harder” than Gemini 3.7 Flash by performing more reasoning steps on complex tasks and “calling tools iteratively.” It has the same introductory pricing as 3.7 Flash, $0.75 per million input tokens and $3.75 per million output tokens, but could still end up costing users more. Google warns that “the model might use more tokens to maximize performance, especially at higher effort levels.” Developers can keep using Gemini 3.7 Flash if they want to minimize token usage. Gemini 3.8 Flash’s launch was followed by some early impressions online. Artificial Analysis highlighted the model’s pricing, saying Gemini 3.8 Flash is “the cheapest we’ve measured at this level of intelligence. This is up ~40% from Gemini 3.7 Flash despite unchanged per-token pricing, driven by a 30% increase in output tokens per task and more turns on agentic evaluations.” Aigora.ai CEO John Ennis compared Gemini 3.8 Flash to Anthropic’s models, saying it offers “Opus 5 coding quality but at a fraction of the cost and super fast,” adding, “This is going to be so awesome for things like making remotion videos.” Google says Gemini 3.8 Flash offers “significant improvements” for software engineering and autonomous AI agents. It outperforms its predecessor and other frontier models on the DeepSWE v1.1 software engineering benchmark, including Anthropic’s Fable 5, which got an upgrade earlier this week that also promises stronger performance at a lower price, by cutting the price to use cached data. Google’s new model also outperformed its competitors on the Vals Finance Agent V2 benchmark and Harvey’s Legal Agent benchmark. However, the new model also “ships with safeguards against misuse in the domains of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) and cyber offense.” Google also released Gemini 3.8 Flash Cyber alongside its new Fairwind Program , which is limited to governments and “trusted partners.”

## Around this story

Outlets this record can name and link:

- Quartz — Google Gemini 3.8 Flash coding AI model expected this week: https://qz.com/google-gemini-38-flash-coding-ai-model-090226
- Ars Technica — Google releases Gemini 3.8 Flash, its third Flash model in six weeks: https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/09/google-releases-gemini-3-8-flash-its-third-flash-model-in-six-weeks
- The Register — With Gemini 3.8 Flash, Google reminds everyone it's still in the race: https://theregister.com/ai-and-ml/2026/09/02/with-gemini-38-flash-google-reminds-everyone-its-still-in-the-race/5294049
- The Decoder — Gemini 3.8 Flash is Google's third budget model in six weeks while frontier models remain MIA: https://the-decoder.com/gemini-3-8-flash-is-googles-third-budget-model-in-six-weeks-while-frontier-models-remain-mia
- Moneycontrol — Google launches Gemini 3.8 Flash and Gemini 3.8 Flash Cyber with stronger coding, reasoning and cybersecurity capabilities: https://moneycontrol.com/technology/google-launches-gemini-3-8-flash-and-gemini-3-8-flash-cyber-with-stronger-coding-reasoning-and-cybersecurity-capabilities-article-14021637.html
- The New Stack — Google ships its third Gemini Flash model in six weeks: https://thenewstack.io/google-ships-its-third-gemini-flash-model-in-six-weeks
- 9to5Google — Gemini 3.8 Flash rolling out three weeks after last release: https://9to5google.com/2026/09/02/gemini-3-8-flash-launch
- Neowin: https://neowin.net/news/google-launches-gemini-38-flash-with-frontier-level-performance-at-a-fraction-of-the-price
- Forkast — Google DeepMind Ships Gemini 3.8 Flash and Cyber: Six Weeks, Three Flash Models, One Compute Landlord Thesis: https://forkast.news/google-deepmind-ships-gemini-3-8-flash-and-cyber-six-weeks-three-flash-models-one-compute-landlord-thesis
- Blockchain News — Google Launches Gemini 3.8 Flash Models for AI and Cybersecurity: https://blockchain.news/news/google-gemini-3-8-flash-cyber-release
- iClarified — Google Launches Gemini 3.8 Flash and 3.8 Flash Cyber: https://iclarified.com/101967/google-launches-gemini-38-flash-and-38-flash-cyber
- Android Authority — Gemini 3.8 Flash is out with a new focus on cybersecurity: https://androidauthority.com/gemini-3-8-flash-google-ai-model-3706483
- The Mac Observer: https://macobserver.com/news/google-releases-gemini-3-8-flash-a-few-weeks-after-last-update
- Simon Willison's Weblog — Release: llm-gemini 0.34: https://simonwillison.net/2026/Sep/2/llm-gemini
- Nokiapoweruser: https://nokiapoweruser.com/gemini-3-8-flash-release-reasoning-coding
- SammyGuru — Gemini 3.8 Flash Is Here, and Google Is Moving Ridiculously Fast: https://sammyguru.com/gemini-3-8-flash-launch
- Search Engine Journal — Google Adds Gemini 3.8 Flash To AI Mode: https://searchenginejournal.com/google-gemini-3-8-flash-ai-mode/588194
- Artificial Analysis — Google has released Gemini 3.8 Flash, its fourth Flash model in under four months: https://artificialanalysis.ai/articles/gemini-3-8-flash
- Android Headlines: https://androidheadlines.com/2026/09/google-debuts-gemini-3-8-flash-cyber-variants.html
- Search Engine Land — Gemini 3.8 Flash rolling out in Google Search: https://searchengineland.com/gemini-3-8-flash-rolling-out-in-google-search-486630
- Voiceofemirates — Google is betting on Gemini 3.8 Flash: More powerful artificial intelligence for programmers: https://voiceofemirates.com/en/science-and-tech/2026/09/03/google-is-betting-on-gemini-3-8-flash-more-powerful-artificial-intelligence-for-programmers
- Google: https://storage.googleapis.com/deepmind-media/Model-Cards/Gemini-3-8-Flash-Model-Card.pdf
- Google AI for Developers — What's new in Gemini 3.8 Flash | Gemini API | Google AI for Developers: https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/latest-model
- RuntimeWire — Gemini 3.8 Flash goes live as RuntimeWire begins head-to-head testing: https://runtimewire.com/article/gemini-3-8-flash-goes-live-as-runtimewire-begins-head-to-head-testing
- Unite — Google Launches Gemini 3.8 Flash With Cybersecurity Variant: https://unite.ai/google-launches-gemini-3-8-flash-with-cybersecurity-variant
- MarkTechPost — Google DeepMind Releases Gemini 3.8 Flash and Gemini 3.8 Flash Cyber: One Core Model, Two Access Envelopes: https://marktechpost.com/2026/09/02/google-deepmind-releases-gemini-3-8-flash-and-gemini-3-8-flash-cyber-one-core-model-two-access-envelopes

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