Free Gemini gets better and faster, European users will get it in Google Messages | Infinium-tech

Google has announced a major update to Gemini that will affect all service users. The company revealed in a blog post that the AI ​​engine is now running the 1.5 Flash language model, optimized for speed and efficiency. The new LLM has a 4x-longer context window (from 8K to 32K tokens), and should improve the quality and accuracy of overall responses.

The update also brings Gemini to Google Messages across Europe. It will enable conversations in newly added languages ​​like French, Polish or Spanish. The Gemini app is being rolled out to more regions, bringing the total to 230 countries and territories.

Gemini 1.5 Flash was introduced at Google I/O in May 2024 and soon became available to paying customers. The expansion of the free version means more people will benefit from longer, more complex signals and get better responses.

LLM supports files uploaded from a drive or device, but it is currently only available on Gemini Advanced. Vice President of Engineering Amar Subramanya revealed that the feature will be added to the free tier as well “soon”.

Another improvement to the Gemini experience is adding related content after the initial response. Starting today, all prompts will have cards with additional information that is basically an AI-powered Google search, but will also pull up related answers from Gmail where needed.

Google plans to expand access to teens globally “in the coming weeks.” Currently, users over the age of 13 can access the AI; however, users in the European Economic Area (EEA) must be at least 18 years old.

The new Gemini for teens will feature additional policies and safeguards, as Google has partnered with child safety and development experts to provide expertise on “meeting the specific needs of teens and families.”

Source