Google Launches Its Third AI Model in Six Weeks as September Brings a Run of Good News
A new Gemini Flash model, a cybersecurity AI, a court win on ads, and a Berkshire Hathaway endorsement all landed on the same Wednesday. Here is what it means for anyone using Google's tools.
Key points
- Google released Gemini 3.8 Flash on 3 September 2025, its third Flash model in six weeks, focused on coding and multi-step AI tasks.
- Gemini 3.8 Flash costs $0.75 per million input tokens and $3.75 per million output tokens, the same price as the previous Flash model.
- A federal judge on 3 September 2025 ruled that Google does not have to sell its AdX advertising exchange, the second court win against a government breakup attempt in two years.
- Berkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel publicly called Alphabet a winner in AI on 3 September 2025.
- Nearly three-quarters of Google Cloud customers already use its AI products, and those customers are spending about 50 percent more than they originally committed to.
Google had a rough summer. It lost ground in the AI model race, saw senior staff walk out the door, and reshuffled the leadership inside DeepMind, the research lab it owns. Its stock then went on its longest monthly losing streak in more than a decade.
Wednesday felt different.
What did Google actually launch?
The headline product is Gemini 3.8 Flash, Google's latest version of its lighter, faster AI model, the technology behind chatbots and coding assistants. Google says it is the best reasoning and coding model in the Gemini Flash family so far, with meaningful improvements on software engineering and multi-step tasks compared with its predecessor, 3.7 Flash.
Flash models are the trimmer, cheaper cousins of Google's biggest AI systems. They cost less to run and can be updated more quickly. Tulsee Doshi, senior director of product management at Google DeepMind, told CNBC Tech that the recent Flash releases have "really surprised us in positive ways in their performance."
Practically speaking: if you use Gemini to help draft code, summarise documents, or run an AI agent, which is software that can carry out multi-step tasks on its own, this update is the one to try.
How does the price compare?
Google is leaning hard on cost as its main selling point against rivals OpenAI and Anthropic.
| What you pay for | Gemini 3.8 Flash |
|---|---|
| Input (text you send in) | $0.75 per million tokens |
| Output (text the AI sends back) | $3.75 per million tokens |
| Base subscription | $0 (new option) |
| Token discount available | Up to 20% |
A token is roughly three-quarters of an English word, so a million tokens is a very large amount of text. For most small businesses or individuals the per-token cost is tiny. The zero-dollar base subscription is new and worth bookmarking if you want to try the enterprise tier without a fixed monthly seat fee.
Analyst Gil Luria at D.A. Davidson told CNBC Tech that the model "keeps Google in the race" but probably will not change the fact that Google sits third in the enterprise market behind Anthropic and OpenAI.
What about the cybersecurity AI?
Google also released Gemini 3.8 Flash Cyber, a version tuned to find and fix software security flaws. The company says it matches the performance of much larger AI models while running faster and at lower cost. Because a tool that finds vulnerabilities can equally be used to exploit them, Google is restricting early access to vetted government agencies and large enterprise security teams through a new scheme called the Fairwind Program.
Ordinary users will not see this one for a while. It is squarely aimed at the kind of IT security teams defending hospitals, banks, and government networks.
Should Google investors feel better?
Probably cautiously, yes. Three things beyond the product launches helped the mood.
First, Berkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel said publicly that his firm sees Alphabet as a significant winner in AI, partly because Berkshire's own portfolio companies use Google's tools and report real benefits.
Second, a federal judge ruled that Google does not have to sell AdX, its online advertising exchange. That follows a separate ruling last year blocking a forced sale of Chrome. Antitrust attorney Wyatt Fore described it as a "big deal" that courts in both cases chose to change Google's behaviour rather than break the company apart.
Third, Google's advertising business, which funds all the AI spending, grew 14 percent in the most recent quarter.
The stock edged up 0.6 percent on Wednesday. Small move, but the direction changed.
Common questions
Can I use Gemini 3.8 Flash for free?
Google has introduced a zero-dollar base subscription option for Gemini Enterprise, so you can get started without a fixed monthly fee and pay only for what you use.
Is my data safe when I use Gemini?
Google's enterprise plans include data handling commitments, but if privacy matters for your work, check Google's current data-use terms before sending sensitive information to any AI tool. Free consumer tiers typically allow the provider to use your inputs to improve the model.
What is the Fairwind Program?
It is a restricted early-access scheme for the new cybersecurity AI. Right now only vetted government bodies and enterprise security teams can apply. There is no public sign-up yet.
