On 10 November Google made Gemini 4 Carbon, which it calls its strongest model, available beyond the cybersecurity testers who got it two weeks earlier. Developers can use it through the paid Gemini API Application programming interface: a door that lets one piece of software ask another for data or actions., and Google AI Ultra subscribers can try it in the Gemini app, AI Mode in Search and Google Antigravity Google's software for building apps with AI agents, which can write, run and check code for you., Google's AI coding tool. Most performance claims below are Google's own.
Key points
- Until 30 November the API costs US$2 per million input Token efficiency How much of your usage allowance an AI spends to do the same job. AI tools read and write text in small chunks called tokens, and usage limits are often counted this way. and US$10 per million output tokens (about RM8 and RM41), the same as Gemini 4 Argon. After that it doubles to US$4 and US$20 (about RM16 and RM81). Google says Carbon uses more tokens than Argon because it explores and checks its work for longer.
- Google says Argon is still the right choice for most coding and office work; Carbon is for very hard, multi-step jobs. It says Carbon ranks first on CursorBench 4.0, Perplexity's WANDR and Zapier's AutomationBench at less than half the cost per task of the next best outside model. Google calls these independent tests; we have not seen the full tables.
- Google is previewing '/swarm' in Antigravity, which turns one request into a team of AI agent An AI program that can take actions for you, like writing code, filling forms or moving items, not just answering questions. you can watch at work. Carbon takes the planning and checking roles, and faster, cheaper models do the rest.
- In a hands-on video, the creator of the Prompt Engineering channel, who says he recently joined Google and was given early access, left Carbon working for about 20 hours on a 3D model of a fort in Peshawar. A fresh AI reviewer scored it about 5 out of 10. His advice: ask for many rounds of work, a progress file and a separate reviewer.
Why it matters: If you're on Google AI Ultra or pay for the API, try Carbon on one long, hard task where checking matters, and compare its cost with Argon before switching. Most people won't need it for everyday writing or chat.
Sources (3)
- Gemini 4 Carbon is now available · Google (The Keyword)
- Gemini 4 Carbon is now available for developers · Google (The Keyword)
- Gemini 4 Carbon: The Most Capable Model from Google · Prompt Engineering
