Gemini 4 Carbon: Introductory Prices and Swarm Agents

Key Takeaways

1Introductory price at $2/M tokens for entry and $10/M for exit, doubling expected by the end of November

2Immediate access via API and paid offerings, uncertainty for the free version

3"Swarm" feature announced on Antigravity to coordinate agents

Why it matters : the model combines introductory rates, new agent capabilities, and claimed performance, with access conditions primarily targeting paid offerings.

Google makes Gemini 4 Carbon available to paying customers and announces a "swarm" agent orchestration on Antigravity. The company is offering low introductory prices and claims top-tier performance, while leaving access for non-paying offers in limbo.

Low introductory prices and a planned doubling at the end of November

Gemini 4 Carbon is launched at $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens. These rates correspond to about one-fifth the cost of OpenAI's GPT-6 Astra and one-quarter of Anthropic's Fable 5.2, which was launched yesterday. The introductory period will end at the end of November, at which point prices will double, while remaining significantly lower than competitors on a per-token basis. However, a lower per-token rate does not necessarily mean a reduced total bill, as each model may consume a different number of tokens for the same task.

Immediate access via API and paid offers, uncertainties for free users

Gemini 4 Carbon is accessible today via the Gemini API in Google AI Studio and in Gemini for business for paying developers and companies. The offer will also be available to Google AI Ultra subscribers in the Gemini app, in the AI mode of search, and on Antigravity. In contrast, no information is provided about availability for lower-tier subscribers or free users. This launch follows that of Argon.

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Announced performance and caution around benchmarks

Google presents Gemini 4 Carbon as its most powerful model to date, claiming it can compete with the best systems from Anthropic and OpenAI. According to benchmarks cited by the company, the model ranks among the top performers on most criteria, just behind Fable 5.2. However, it is noted that companies may choose benchmark results that highlight their tools. This launch comes a month after that of Argon.

"Swarm" feature announced to coordinate multiple agents

Google announces a "swarm" feature on Antigravity, its agent development platform, allowing a single prompt to be transformed into a coordinated team of agents. The company specifies that Gemini 4 Carbon is designed for tasks that push the limits of a model's intelligence, such as complex coding and open scientific research, and that it goes further than the Argon model launched last month. However, Google believes that Argon will likely remain the preferred choice for the majority of software engineering and knowledge work. Prior to this public launch, Gemini 4 Carbon had been offered to a select group of cybersecurity advocates two weeks ago.