one year on
Google launches Gemini 2.5 Flash Image, a state-of-the-art image generation and editing model dubbed 'nano-banana'
Google's new image model brings character consistency across edits, multi-image blending, and precise local changes from plain-language prompts — each output carrying an invisible SynthID watermark.
Google DeepMind today releases Gemini 2.5 Flash Image, a state-of-the-art image generation and editing model widely known by its codename ‘nano-banana.’ The model is available now via the Gemini API, Google AI Studio, and Vertex AI.
The model brings several new capabilities: character consistency across scenes, multi-image fusion, precise local edits from natural-language prompts, and integration of Gemini’s world knowledge into image generation. Users can keep a character or object consistent across multiple edits—changing outfits, backgrounds, or time periods—and combine several photos into a single image. Targeted edits, such as blurring a background or removing an object, can be triggered with a single prompt.
Pricing is set at $30 per million output tokens, with each image costing $0.039 (1,290 tokens). Safety features include an invisible SynthID digital watermark.
For developers, the model is available through Google AI Studio and Vertex AI, plus partners including OpenRouter and fal.ai.
The record
One year later — open only if you can handle spoilers
'Nano-banana' became one of 2025's defining consumer-AI moments. Google says the Gemini app added more than 23 million new users and generated over 500 million images in the two weeks after launch, and by mid-September Gemini had overtaken ChatGPT to top the U.S. App Store — a surge that helped push Alphabet's market value past $3 trillion. Google kept iterating on the model, shipping follow-up "Nano Banana" image releases into 2026.
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