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Google opens Gemini 4 Argon to paying users and developers
Google’s top model reaches the Gemini app, AI Mode in Search and the paid API at an introductory per-token price.
Google released Gemini 4 Argon, its most capable AI model, to a wide audience on Tuesday 13 October 2026. Developers reach it through the paid Gemini API. Pro and Ultra subscribers get it in the Gemini app and in AI Mode in Search, while the Antigravity coding tool carries it for Ultra subscribers only, Google says.
Before this, Argon went only to a small group of cyber defenders who checked it for misuse risks, The Verge reports. At launch, Argon’s API price is roughly a fifth of what OpenAI charges for GPT-6 Astra and Anthropic for its Fable 5 models. On Google’s own benchmark scores, Argon leads rivals such as GPT-6 Astra and Claude Fable 5.1 in coding, cybersecurity, science, finance and law.
Developers pay $2 per million input tokens until 30 November 2026. Tokens are the chunks of text a model reads and writes. Output costs $10 per million, and both rates double after that date, Google says. Free users get no access. AI Pro costs $20 a month and AI Ultra starts at $99, Ars Technica reports.
For advertisers who pay for AI by the token, the weeks to 30 November are the cheapest window to trial Google’s top model.
Earlier on this story: Google releases Gemini 4 Argon to cyber defenders first
Sources
- Google: Gemini 4 Argon: Built to solve your hardest problems. Checked
- The Verge: Google finally releases Gemini 4 Argon. Checked
- Ars Technica: Gemini 4 Argon begins rolling out in Gemini app and Antigravity, but only if you pay. Checked
Alexandre S.
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