Google introduces new class of cheap AI models as cost concerns intensify
Alphabet's Google on Wednesday announced updates to its Gemini family of large language models, including a new product line with competitive pricing to low-cost artificial intelligence models like that of Chinese rival DeepSeek.
The tech giant offers several versions of Gemini that vary in price and performance. It already offered a lightweight variant known as 'Flash' but its new 'Flash-Lite' model is even cheaper.
On Wednesday, Google released Gemini 2.0 Flash to the general public after previewing it to developers in December. It also launched Flash-Lite and released a new version of its flagship 'Pro' model into test phases.
Google created Flash-Lite after receiving positive feedback about the 1.5 version of Flash, Koray Kavukcuoglu, chief technology officer of Google's DeepMind AI lab, said in a press release. Gemini 2.0 Flash is costlier than its predecessor. Sissie Hsiao, vice-president of Google Gemini Experiences, speaks during the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked winter event in San Jose, California, January 22, 2025. Photo: Reuters
The cost to develop AI models and, in turn, the cost to use them have come under investor scrutiny in recent weeks after DeepSeek revealed it spent less than US$6 million on the final training run of a model. Developers at leading US AI firms said the total cost was likely magnitudes larger.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
4 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
US tariffs hit China's exports in May, but June seen as ‘a better month'
China's export growth slowed last month, weighed down by fewer US orders being made before the two countries came to a 90-day tariff truce. Advertisement And while June's prospects look poised to improve, China's manufacturing and trade sectors remain under strain, according to economists, who also point to lingering uncertainties over American tariffs. China's May exports were up by 4.8 per cent, year on year, to US$316.1 billion, customs data showed on Monday. The figure followed April's 8.1 per cent growth and fell short of the estimate of a 6.28 per cent increase in a market survey by Chinese financial data provider Wind. Exports to the United States plunged by 34.52 per cent, sharper than the 21 per cent drop seen in April, owing to the trade war between the two countries. Advertisement
RTHK
5 hours ago
- RTHK
China-US trade talks under way in London
China-US trade talks under way in London China and US trade officials meet in Lancaster House in London. Photo: Reuters The first meeting of the China-US economic and trade consultation mechanism opened in London on Monday Vice Premier He Lifeng attended the meeting with the US delegation including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at Lancaster House. The meeting is aimed at shoring up a fragile truce in a trade dispute sparked by US tariffs that has roiled the global economy. The talks are expected to last at least a day and followed negotiations in Geneva last month that brought a temporary respite in the trade war. Lutnick did not attend the Geneva talks at which the countries struck a 90-day deal to roll back some of the triple-digit tariffs they had placed on each other. President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump spoke by phone last Thursday in an attempt to put relations back on track. The meeting in London was helped by news that Beijing on Saturday approved some applications for rare-earth exports, while US aviation giant Boeing is to start sending commercial jets to China for the first time since April. (Agencies)
RTHK
5 hours ago
- RTHK
China-US trade talks under way in London
China-US trade talks under way in London China and US trade officials meet in Lancaster House in London. Photo: Reuters The first meeting of the China-US economic and trade consultation mechanism opened in London on Monday Vice Premier He Lifeng attended the meeting with the US delegation including Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer at Lancaster House. The meeting is aimed at shoring up a fragile truce in a trade dispute sparked by US tariffs that has roiled the global economy. The talks are expected to last at least a day and followed negotiations in Geneva last month that brought a temporary respite in the trade war. Lutnick did not attend the Geneva talks at which the countries struck a 90-day deal to roll back some of the triple-digit tariffs they had placed on each other. President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump spoke by phone last Thursday in an attempt to put relations back on track. The meeting in London was helped by news that Beijing on Saturday approved some applications for rare-earth exports, while US aviation giant Boeing is to start sending commercial jets to China for the first time since April. (Agencies)
