Gemini app limiting what models free & AI Plus users can access, AI Pro adding Deep Think - 9to5Google
Google is restructuring its Gemini AI subscription tiers, limiting model access for free and AI Plus users while adding 'Deep Think' capabilities to the AI Pro tier. The company is also introducing new effort levels for model responses to improve task completion.
Why it matters
Reflects the ongoing monetization and resource management strategies of major AI providers.
Following the compute-based usage change in May, Google will soon introduce limits on which Gemini models free users and AI Plus subscribers can access.
According to an updated support document this week, Gemini app users without a Google AI subscription will be limited to the (3.5) Flash-Lite model. Starting October 9, users who do not pay for Gemini will no longer be able to access (3.6) Flash or (3.1) Pro.
Meanwhile, AI Plus subscribers will be limited to Flash-Lite and Flash, with Pro no longer available. These $4.99 per month users will “receive an email that explains when these changes will take effect.”
There are no regressions for AI Pro and AI Ultra . Rather, $19.99/month customers will get access to the Deep Think option for “maximum parallel reasoning” that’s currently just on the $99.99 and $199.99/month plans.
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