Google Hides Gemini AI Model from Public Due to Safety Fears

Google's Gemini AI model has been released to a select group of cybersecurity experts due to safety concerns. The company is withholding access to its most powerful AI model, Argon, from the public to prevent misuse by hackers. Google says releasing frontier capabilities at this level requires a phased approach and that they are voluntarily giving early access to the US government.

The cautious rollout mirrors the approach of rival Anthropic, which has kept its most advanced model, Claude Mythos Preview, restricted to a small number of trusted organizations. Washington briefly forced Anthropic to suspend access to its publicly released models in June and has since set up a voluntary process for vetting the most powerful AI models before release.

Cybersecurity experts fear that state-of-the-art technology could be used to hack banks, hospitals, and government systems. Google says Argon excelled at complex tasks in software engineering, legal, and financial work and cyber-defense, with a leading ability to find and fix critical software flaws.