Google unveils Gemini 3.6 Flash with 17% lower token usage

Google has announced three new artificial intelligence models - Gemini 3.6 Flash, Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite and Gemini 3.5 Flash Cyber - aimed at improving coding, AI agent performance and security analysis while reducing token consumption and accelerating processing speeds.

The flagship Gemini 3.6 Flash builds on the capabilities of Gemini 3.5 Flash, offering improved coding performance, stronger research capabilities and faster multi-step reasoning. Google said the model reduces token usage by 17%, helping developers lower operating costs while maintaining high performance.

The model is priced at US$1.50 per one million input tokens and US$7.50 per one million output tokens (1 token = US$0.00012067). Google said benchmark tests show Gemini 3.6 Flash outperforms Gemini 3.5 Flash in several areas, including coding, AI agent tasks, computer control and knowledge-based research, providing a better balance of speed, accuracy and efficiency for complex workloads.

Google also introduced Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite, a lightweight model designed for maximum processing speed and efficient token usage. The model is intended for search, large-scale data processing and AI agent applications. (continues below)

Photo: Google

Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite can generate up to 350 output tokens per second and is priced at US$0.30 per one million input tokens and US$2.50 per one million output tokens. According to Google, it delivers better overall performance than Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite while maintaining its focus on low-cost, high-speed inference.

The third model, Gemini 3.5 Flash Cyber, is designed specifically for cybersecurity tasks, including identifying software security vulnerabilities. Built on an optimised version of the Gemini 3.5 Flash architecture, the model is designed to perform security analysis faster while reducing token usage for each request.

Initially, Gemini 3.5 Flash Cyber will be available exclusively through CodeMender, with access limited to government agencies and trusted organisations.

Google added that an update regarding its flagship Gemini 3.5 Pro model will be announced in the near future.

Source: Google

3.6 Flash, using Managed Agents on AIS, can help parse through and analyze financial data and transcripts more efficiently and accurately than 3.5 Flash (AIS) Photo: Google

Working alongside 3.6 Flash as the master agent, 3.5 Flash-Lite instantly generates 25 unique, ready-to-explore web design concepts. Photo: Google

3.5 Flash-Lite can scale receipt translation and summarization with its multimodal understanding. Photo: Google

3.5 Flash-Lite builds a game by instantly generating and iterating through multiple options. Photo: Google