There’s a reason why Google Gemini’s feeling a lot more responsive

Gemini's also picking up new tricks, as the Tasks Extension spreads to more phones.

There’s a reason why Google Gemini’s feeling a lot more responsive
  • Google says that Gemini 1.5 Flash has gotten 50% faster in the past few weeks.
  • Gemini’s Google Tasks Extension is being spotted on Pixel 8 phones, after debuting with the Pixel 9.
  • Expect the Tasks Extension to keep spreading to more Android devices.

Earlier this year, Google announced the next step for its Gemini generative AI system, with plans for Gemini 1.5 Flash, promising to not just be faster, but able to support more complex queries. And then a little over a month ago, Google started deploying Gemini 1.5 Flash to users around the globe, all for free. Even with that landmark release out, Google’s continued to enhance performance behind the scenes, and just shared an update on how blazingly fast Gemini is getting.

Google claims that over the last several weeks, it’s been able to improve the performance of Gemini 1.5 Flash responses to the point where they’re now up to 50% faster than before. The company doesn’t go into a ton of detail about specific changes that have led to that achievement, but does mention its efforts to reduce latency. While that sort of enhancement isn’t really necessary for Gemini to be successful, it can help with the illusion behind it a bit, making interactions feel more natural.