When was Gemini 4 released?

Google announced Gemini 4 Argon, the first Gemini 4 model, on September 30, 2026. It went first to trusted cyber defenders in Google's Fairwind Program; wider access has no announced date.

Can I use Gemini 4 Argon now?

Probably not. As of October 9, 2026 it is limited to Fairwind Program cyber defenders, some security partners and Google itself. Paid API customers and Google AI Ultra subscribers are next, with no date given.

How much does Gemini 4 Argon cost?

Introductory API pricing is $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens, rising to $4 and $20 later. Cached input is 95% off the input price.

Is Gemini 4 Argon included in Google AI Ultra?

Not yet. Google says Ultra subscribers are among the next groups to get access, but an Ultra subscription does not unlock Argon today.

Is Gemini 4 Argon better than GPT-6 Astra?

Google says Argon scores higher than GPT-6 Astra and Anthropic's Fable and Opus models on several benchmarks, including 77.9% on DeepSWE v1.1. Those are vendor figures; independent comparisons will be more reliable once more people can use it.

Gemini 4 Release Date: Argon Is Here, but Who Can Use It?

Google released Gemini 4 Argon on Sept 30, 2026, but only to vetted cyber defenders. Who can use it now, the $2/$10 API pricing, the benchmarks, and what comes next.

By Quantara Editorial Team · AI Tools · Published Sep 5, 2026 · Updated Oct 9, 2026 · 6 min read

Short answer: the first Gemini 4 model, Gemini 4 Argon, was announced on September 30, 2026. You probably cannot use it yet: Google is giving it first to vetted cyber defenders, with paid API customers and Google AI Ultra subscribers next, and no public date for that wider rollout. This page tracks what is confirmed and what is not, and was last checked on October 9, 2026.

Gemini 4 Release Timeline

Date	What happened
July 21, 2026	Sundar Pichai says Google is "now training Gemini 4", with a focus on coding and agentic work.
September 24, 2026	Google says Gemini 4 is in post-training and will ship "as soon as possible".
September 30, 2026	Google announces Gemini 4 Argon and releases it to the Fairwind Program for trusted cyber defenders.
Not announced	Access for paid API customers and Google AI Ultra subscribers, then wider availability.

Who Can Use Gemini 4 Argon Right Now

Only a small group. Google says Argon is available to trusted cyber defenders through its Fairwind Program, to security partners such as Wiz, and internally at Google. A Google AI Ultra subscription does not give access yet. Google says it will widen access to developers, enterprises and consumers "as soon as possible", starting with paid API customers and Ultra subscribers, but it has not given a date.

Gemini 4 Argon Pricing

Google has published API pricing even though most developers cannot call the model yet:

Introductory: $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens.
After the introductory period: $4 input and $20 output per million tokens. Google has not said when the introductory period ends.
Cached input: 95% off the input price.

What Argon Is Built For

Google positions Argon for long, multi-step work: real-world software engineering and codebase migrations, enterprise knowledge work in law, finance and research, finding and patching security vulnerabilities, and understanding charts, documents and long videos. Google also says the output-token limit rises to 1 million tokens, up from 64K.

Benchmarks Google Reported

Benchmark	Gemini 4 Argon
DeepSWE v1.1 (software engineering)	77.9%
AutomationBench	51.3% (ranked first)
LVBench (long video)	91.7%
CWE-bench v1 (security)	68% (tied first)

These are Google's own figures. Google also says Argon leads the Vals AI index and beats GPT-6 Astra and Anthropic's Fable and Opus models on several benchmarks. Treat vendor benchmarks as a starting point until independent results are published.

What to Do While You Wait

Use the models you can access today (GPT-6 Astra, Claude Fable 5.1, Gemini 3.8 Flash) rather than pausing work for an undated rollout.
Write prompts that hold up across models: a clear role, the context, constraints and the output format. Our prompt generator builds that structure for you, and the free Prompt Scorer shows what a prompt is missing.
Watch Google's official blog and the Gemini API changelog for the paid-API and Ultra rollout.

Sources

Frequently asked questions

When was Gemini 4 released?: Google announced Gemini 4 Argon, the first Gemini 4 model, on September 30, 2026. It went first to trusted cyber defenders in Google's Fairwind Program; wider access has no announced date.
Can I use Gemini 4 Argon now?: Probably not. As of October 9, 2026 it is limited to Fairwind Program cyber defenders, some security partners and Google itself. Paid API customers and Google AI Ultra subscribers are next, with no date given.
How much does Gemini 4 Argon cost?: Introductory API pricing is $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens, rising to $4 and $20 later. Cached input is 95% off the input price.
Is Gemini 4 Argon included in Google AI Ultra?: Not yet. Google says Ultra subscribers are among the next groups to get access, but an Ultra subscription does not unlock Argon today.
Is Gemini 4 Argon better than GPT-6 Astra?: Google says Argon scores higher than GPT-6 Astra and Anthropic's Fable and Opus models on several benchmarks, including 77.9% on DeepSWE v1.1. Those are vendor figures; independent comparisons will be more reliable once more people can use it.