Google Gemini 4 Hydrogen Launches as the New Default for Search AI Mode
Google shipped a new AI model on November 12, and it went straight into the product most people actually use. Gemini 4 Hydrogen is now the default model in Search AI Mode, Google said in its announcement, and it handles the hardest questions in AI Overviews too. The model costs $1.50 per million input tokens, and Google claims it runs 2.5 times faster than the model it replaces. That last number matters more than the name. Hydrogen takes over from Gemini 3.8 Flash as Google’s fast model, and it lands in Search for all users, not just developers or paying subscribers. Free Gemini app users get it through automatic model selection, while developers can call it directly through the Gemini API and Google AI Studio. ...