Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares are trending and still trading lower after sinking Thursday on reports that the company’s next major AI model is running significantly behind schedule.
Google Delays Gemini 3.5 Pro Release
Bloomberg reported that Google has pushed back the release of Gemini 3.5 Pro by several months, with engineers still working to close a coding performance gap against rivals like OpenAI and Anthropic. Sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg the delay has frustrated employees internally and stoked concern that Google could lose further ground in one of AI’s most commercially important categories.
Bloomberg’s reporting points to organizational sprawl as a root cause — separate teams within DeepMind, Cloud, Android, and Search are each building AI coding tools in parallel, resulting in duplicated work and slower decision-making. Updated training data intended to boost Gemini’s coding ability reportedly hasn’t closed the gap, even as competing labs continue pushing out stronger models.
Google Pushes Back on Delay Claims
A Google spokesperson pushed back on the characterization of the timeline in a statement to Bloomberg: “We’re shipping quickly across a wide range of models while keeping them highly cost-effective for customers. We’re currently testing 3.5 Pro, an upgraded Flash model, and other models with partners, and we’re productively engaged with the US government on model testing and broader frameworks.”
Alphabet Shares Fall
GOOG Price Action: At the time of publication, Alphabet shares are trading 2.66% lower at $344.40, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
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