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Posted by bratao 16 hours ago

Gemini 3.8 Flash and 3.8 Flash Cyber(blog.google)
https://deepmind.google/models/model-cards/gemini-3-8-flash/
966 points | 544 commentspage 4
gere 14 hours ago|
I have mixed feelings about Gemini 3.7 Flash. I used it for a personal project in Java and it was ok: it was crazy fast and it reached the correct result, but the code quality was barely passable.

I also used it for a an app for my Garmin watch, and it wasn't good. The code was compiling, but functionality was totally broken and even with a lot of steering it wasn't able to make it work. GLM 5.3-flash instead was up for it and the code wasn't bad at all. I am curious to see if 3.8 is an improvement in this use case.

AM1010101 15 hours ago||
Seems to do reasonably well in opencode according to artificial analysis. https://artificialanalysis.ai/agents/coding-agents

If I had to pay per token I would probably consider using this (they seem to be on the pareto of performance) but not being able to use opencode with a subscription is not really something I'm realistically going to do when claude and codex are around. Also never gotten along well with gemini-cli / antigravity-cli.

buntp 15 hours ago||
It seems like this is one of the most powerful models for the price, really didn't see that coming from Google
f311a 16 hours ago||
Is the google infra stable enough right now? At the start of the year, the flash model was unusable for a whole month via gemini CLI. They could not fix it for a whole month and I was a paid customer.
ipsod 16 hours ago||
I haven't had any issues lately.
elias_t 15 hours ago||
I use it quite a lot and after a week of use I’m being hard rate limited
npn 13 hours ago||
Still refuse to search internet for stuff it thinks does not exist lol.

And even when searching for internet, it still cannot suggest a up-to-date approach to the problem.

For example I'm using crystal, it recently revamped the concurrency/parallel model. Even using web search, gemini still does not aware of the new feature and still give the outdated code.

I'm sure my crystal usage is not the unique case here.

pimeys 15 hours ago||
It's interesting that Deepseek models were missing in the comparison. I see Deepseek v4 Flash a direct competitor to Gemini Flash for text-based agentic work.
sfink 15 hours ago||
For my application, I'm still happily using gemini-2.5-flash and the only problem is when it reports being overloaded. It's for interpreting a downscaled phone camera photo of a hand-written shopping list on a whiteboard, and it works stunningly well. My handwriting sucks, too.

(I guess the only relevance here is that if your problem matches a model's strengths, then you can do fine with a model that is several generations out of date.)

w4yai 9 minutes ago||
please do yourself a favor and use something far more efficient ! GLM5.3 will make you super happy
repparw 5 hours ago|||
I would test this, might be cheaper per task even costing more per token, probably faster too
brap 8 hours ago||
I believe the older models are being gradually phased out, newer ones have no availability issues
andreygrehov 15 hours ago||
I don't use Gemini, but I thought `cool, let's give this new model a try`. Opened gemini.google.com, and I'm not even surprised. The drop down gives me the following options:

- Flash-Lite

- 3.6 Flash [new]

- 3.1 Pro

The above is why i don't use LLM products from Google. If the model is not available right this minute (heck, hours before the release!), then I'm not gonna bother getting back to it tomorrow, because tomorrow I'll be playing with the new model from OAI/Anthropic.

raincole 15 hours ago||
It's such a weird attitude, especially considering that 1) it's readily available on AI Studio 2) Anthropic models were not always available the moment they got released either.

(It also shows that the internet isn't dead. Even people who are not aware of Google AI Studio can express their valuable opinions on LLMs!)

rockooooo 15 hours ago|||
"The new Gemini model isn't available in Gemini, the Gemini App Gemini model is two versions behind and marked as new and the actual new model is in AI Studio" is the kind of problem only Google has though.
notatoad 15 hours ago||||
it would be a bad take if the webui had 3.7 flash available in it today, and they just hadn't fully rolled out the latest model when they posted the launch announcement.

but the webui is currently offering 3.6 flash. the previous model still hasn't actually rolled out to it yet.

andreygrehov 15 hours ago|||
> it's readily available on AI Studio

AI Studio? Seriously, the hell is that? Gemini, AI Studio, Antigravity - what is all that nonsense? The 3.8 Flash announcement says the model is available to Google AI Pro customers. Is it the same as Gemini Pro, or some sort of AI Studio Pro? Based on the comments, i see the model is available in the Gemini App, not available in the UI, not available to Workspace accounts but is available to some personal accounts, yet I'm not a Workspace user. Some people have already mentioned that they are paid customers, yet they don't see the new model.

I know Google loves asking graph problems during their tech interviews, but I can't wrap my head why the customers should solve these problems as well.

rozap 14 hours ago||
wait you forgot vertex, that one is different
Sidio 15 hours ago|||
I'm a paid Gemini subscriber via Workspace Standard accounts and yet I also only have access to 3.6.

So frustrating and confusing.

Meanwhile Anthropic and OpenAI simply release a model everywhere (Fable on Pro only as a somewhat mild exception).

kyrra 15 hours ago|||
Workspace always gets things slower than normal Gmail accounts. They do a lot more to isolate data related to those accounts, so that's likely the cause here.

Anytime anything gets added to Workspace, I think Google has a lot more contractual obligations about keeping it around for X amount of time, so they tend to be more careful about adding things.

urams 15 hours ago||||
> I'm a paid Gemini subscriber via Workspace Standard accounts and yet I also only have access to 3.6.

Same and I have found it extremely annoying. I actually really like the Gemini models for question/answer stuff and reach for it before Claude (the other model family I have purchased) but it's getting long in the tooth at this point and I'm finding my Gemini usage shrinking to nearly 0.

bobtheborg 14 hours ago|||
[flagged]
venusenvy47 15 hours ago|||
That looks like the options that get presented for Workspace users (like at my company). The personal Google accounts give more recent models, for some reason I don't understand.
addandsubtract 14 hours ago|||
As someone with a Pro subscription, I had access to 3.7 the day it came out. Expecting to have access to 3.8 now, too. It's only the free accounts that are behind.
replwoacause 13 hours ago||
I'm a Plus subscriber using a Gmail address and still only see 3.6
_zoltan_ 14 hours ago|||
The android Gemini app defaults to 3.8 flash already.
irthomasthomas 12 hours ago|||
Not on mine (UK), still 3.6, here.
akoboldfrying 11 hours ago|||
Still 3.6 ("new") for me, even 3.7 is not available.
scruple 15 hours ago|||
I see it on my Pixel with the Gemini app.
heliosAtwork 14 hours ago|||
It is a marketing failure by Google to not have the model available for everyone to experience the moment they announce. Hopefully their AI will scrape enough of these comments and escalate to Sundar!

It's available in antigravity which I started using again (for small things until I can trust gemini for coding again).

muhammadusman 15 hours ago|||
it's weird how the web ui doesn't show the latest flash options while the desktop/mobile apps update the same day as the release. I saw the model in the model selection (by coincidence) before seeing it show up on HN
notatoad 15 hours ago|||
yeah in typical google fashion, the best way to use the gemini models is by avoiding google's actual products. i've got a vision project where gemini flash is the best option by a long shot, and i just use openrouter so i don't have to navigate google's mess.
bingkaa 8 hours ago|||
i have it on gemini app the moment they announced it. pro, student
heymijo 15 hours ago|||
FYI, 3.8 Flash is available on aistudio.google.com (along with all of their other models)

But yeah, they really dgaf about gemini.google.com -- I dropped that sub in April when it was clear OAI and Anthropic had lapped them

Anslopic1 15 hours ago|||
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panarky 15 hours ago|||
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Oras 15 hours ago||
Sums up Google AI products.

I have a weird vibe from all the comments in this thread, they feel like a script rather a real experience.

aff-vasileva 14 hours ago||
The model seems fast enough to solve your problem before Google finishes explaining which of its three products you need to open to access it.
2001zhaozhao 13 hours ago|
How generous is the Google subscription quotas compared to Anthropic and OpenAI? This sounds like a really good potential model for high volume due to its speed and cost effectiveness.

(By high volume I mean things like "main app just updated with XYZ commits, please scan XYZ plugins and surface any compatibility issues")

654wak654 13 hours ago||
I'm on the Ultra plan and use it for chat, antigravity, and some other work automations (similar to your example). The only time I've ever hit my limit is when I use Deep Think (which usually eats up 4-5% of the 6-hour usage limit per response).
thereitgoes456 8 hours ago||
Really generous. I'm on the Pro plan and I just use Antigravity for vibe coding w/o automation. It's actually difficult to hit my weekly limit now, it takes about ~30-35 hours of continuous agent work, which virtually only happens when building a new app from scratch.
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