Shares of Alphabet experienced a 4% decline on Thursday after news surfaced regarding a delay in the rollout of its premier artificial intelligence model.
According to a report from Bloomberg, which cites sources familiar with the situation, the Gemini 3.5 Pro AI model is several months behind its expected launch timeline. This setback is attributed to Alphabet’s initiative to enhance the model’s performance, particularly its coding abilities, which have not met the company's internal benchmarks. This development occurs amid the release of competitive AI models from peers such as OpenAI and Meta, which have begun to surpass Google's existing capabilities in software code generation.
Initially unveiled during its annual Google I/O developer conference in May, Alphabet had indicated that the Gemini 3.5 Pro would be in use internally but would not be available for wider access until the following month.
In response to the situation, an Alphabet spokesperson provided an email statement to CNBC, emphasizing that the company is rapidly advancing across a diverse array of models while ensuring they remain affordable for customers. The spokesperson added, "We are actively testing 3.5 Pro, an enhanced Flash model, along with other models in collaboration with partners, and we are productively engaging with the U.S. government."
