It seems like hardly a day goes by anymore without a new version of Google's Gemini AI landing, and sure enough, Google is rolling out a major update to its most powerful 2.5 Pro model. This release is aimed at fixing some problems that cropped up in an earlier Gemini Pro update, and the word is, this version will become a stable release that comes to the Gemini app for everyone to use.
The previous Gemini 2.5 Pro release, known as the I/O Edition, or simply 05-06, was focused on coding upgrades. Google claims the new version is even better at generating code, with a new high score of 82.2 percent in the Aider Polyglot test. That beats the best from OpenAI, Anthropic, and DeepSeek by a comfortable margin.
While the general-purpose Gemini 2.5 Flash has left preview, the Pro version is lagging behind. In fact, the last several updates have attracted some valid criticism of 2.5 Pro's performance outside of coding tasks since the big 03-25 update. Google's Logan Kilpatrick says the team has taken that feedback to heart and that the new model "closes [the] gap on 03-25 regressions." For example, users will supposedly see more creativity with better formatting of responses.
© Ryan Whitwam
You may not use Gemini or other AI products, but many people do, and their ranks are growing. During day three of Google's antitrust remedies trial, the company presented a slide showing that Gemini reached 350 million monthly active users as of March 2025. That's a massive increase from last year, showing that Google is beginning to gain traction among competing chatbots, but Google's estimation of ChatGPT's traffic shows it still has a long climb ahead of it.
The slide was presented during the testimony of Sissie Hsiao, who until recently was leading Google's Gemini efforts. She was replaced earlier this month by Josh Woodward, who also runs Google Labs. The slide listed Gemini's 350 million monthly users, along with daily traffic of 35 million users.
These numbers represent a huge increase for Gemini, which languished in the tens of millions of monthly users late last year. Gemini's daily user count at the time was a mere 9 million, according to Google. Since then, Google has released its Gemini 2.0 and 2.5 models, both of which have shown demonstrable improvements over the previous iterations. It has also begun adding Gemini features to more parts of the Google ecosystem, even though some of those integrations can be more frustrating than useful.
© Ryan Whitwam
Google made waves with the release of Gemini 2.5 last month, rocketing to the top of the AI leaderboard after previously struggling to keep up with the likes of OpenAI. That first experimental model was just the beginning. Google is deploying its improved AI in more places across its ecosystem, from the developer-centric Vertex AI to the consumer Gemini app.
Gemini models have been dropping so quickly, it can be hard to grasp Google's intended lineup. Things are becoming clearer now that the company is beginning to move its products to the new branch. At the Google Cloud Next conference, it has announced initial availability of Gemini 2.5 Flash. This model is based on the same code as Gemini 2.5 Pro, but it's faster and cheaper to run.
You won't see Gemini 2.5 Flash in the Gemini app just yet—it's starting out in the Vertex AI development platform. The experimental wide release of Pro helped Google gather data and see how people interacted with the new model, and that has helped inform the development of 2.5 Flash.
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Google was caught flat-footed by the sudden skyrocketing interest in generative AI despite its role in developing the underlying technology. This prompted the company to refocus its considerable resources on catching up to OpenAI. Since then, we've seen the detail-flubbing Bard and numerous versions of the multimodal Gemini models. While Gemini has struggled to make progress in benchmarks and user experience, that could be changing with the new 2.5 Pro (Experimental) release. With big gains in benchmarks and vibes, this might be the first Google model that can make a dent in ChatGPT's dominance.
We recently spoke to Google's Tulsee Doshi, director of product management for Gemini, to talk about the process of releasing Gemini 2.5, as well as where Google's AI models are going in the future.
Google may have had a slow start in building generative AI products, but the Gemini team has picked up the pace in recent months. The company released Gemini 2.0 in December, showing a modest improvement over the 1.5 branch. It only took three months to reach 2.5, meaning Gemini 2.0 Pro wasn't even out of the experimental stage yet. To hear Doshi tell it, this was the result of Google's long-term investments in Gemini.
© Ryan Whitwam
On the heels of releasing its most capable AI model yet, Google is making some changes to the Gemini team. A new report from Semafor reveals that longtime Googler Sissie Hsiao will step down from her role leading the Gemini team effective immediately. In her place, Google is appointing Josh Woodward, who currently leads Google Labs.
According to a memo from DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, this change is designed to "sharpen our focus on the next evolution of the Gemini app." This new responsibility won't take Woodward away from his role at Google Labs—he will remain in charge of that division while leading the Gemini team.
Meanwhile, Hsiao says in a message to employees that she is happy with "Chapter 1" of the Bard story and is optimistic for Woodward's "Chapter 2." Hsiao won't be involved in Google's AI efforts for now—she's opted to take some time off before returning to Google in a new role.
© Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
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