Google Revives Gemini Plans as DeepMind Chief Eyes Frontier

Google's DeepMind division is on track to release Gemini 4, its long-awaited AI model. Speaking during his first media appearance as the new leader of Google's DeepMind division, Koray Kavukcuoglu said that Gemini 4 is currently in its refinement stage. The company aims to launch the model 'much earlier' than the end of the year, with an early post-training output expected soon.

Google hasn't released a new flagship AI model since Gemini 3 in November 2025. OpenAI's GPT-6 and Anthropic's Mythos series models have launched since then, outperforming Gemini 3 and giving rival AI providers a lead against Google in the AI race. Kavukcuoglu acknowledged that the company 'took a little bit of a step back' to focus on introducing faster, less powerful Flash models instead of releasing Gemini 3.5 Pro.

Kavukcuoglu expressed confidence that Google will remain at the forefront of AI development. He stated, 'In my mind, it's a certainty that we are always gonna be at the frontier.'