Google rolls out Gemini 4 Hydrogen across products and search

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Google Gemini 4 Hydrogen launch

Highlights

Google launches Gemini 4 Hydrogen model company-wide, offering immediate, broad access and 2.5x faster high-mode speeds than Flash 3.8.
Hydrogen scores 54 in the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index at xhigh mode, surpassing Flash 3.8 and nearing Argon's 50, boosting coding capabilities.
Hydrogen pricing remains $1.50 per million input tokens and $7.50 per million output tokens, while Carbon and Argon rates will double next month.

Model rollout and performance positioning

As reported by Ars Technica, Google is continuing its elemental naming scheme with Gemini 4 Hydrogen, a model designed to take over from the faster, lower-cost Flash line used widely across the company’s services. Unlike the staged releases of Carbon and Argon, which initially focused on cybersecurity researchers and higher-paying subscribers, Hydrogen begins rolling out immediately with fewer access limits.

Google says Hydrogen delivers a substantial upgrade over Gemini 3.8 Flash. The model runs across four thinking levels, low, medium, high and the new xhigh, and in high mode it is 2.5 times faster than Flash 3.8, while reducing fabricated claims by more than fivefold according to the company’s analysis.

The company also positions Hydrogen as a stronger coding model. Google says it more than triples 3.8 Flash’s score in Terminal-Bench, and in some comparisons it approaches Argon, scoring 54 in the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index in xhigh mode versus 50 for Argon.

Search integration and pricing impact

Google is integrating Hydrogen into Search in what it describes as its biggest update yet to AI-powered search tools. The company says the model is better suited to long, multipart questions, while AI Overviews and AI Mode responses gain more visual elements and broader source linking through a tuned fan-out search system.

Access varies across products. Google says everyone will reportedly get access to Hydrogen in Search, but in the Gemini app and AI Studio the model is currently available to AI Pro and Ultra subscribers, while AI Plus and free users remain on Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite.

For developers, Hydrogen is available through the API at $1.50 per million input tokens and $7.50 per million output tokens, unchanged from Gemini 3.8 Flash. Carbon and Argon currently cost $2 and $10, but those rates are set to rise to $4 and $20 starting next month, reinforcing Hydrogen’s role as Google’s lower-cost high-speed option for coding and testing workloads.

As noted in our earlier article, Lenovo’s CES 2027 keynote will spotlight Hybrid AI innovations focused on privacy and data control.

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