Gemini 2.5: Updates to our family of thinking models

Google is releasing updates to its Gemini 2.5 model family, including the generally available and stable Gemini 2.5 Pro and Flash, and the new Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite "thinking models" in preview, offering enhanced performance and accuracy, with Flash-Lite providing a lower-cost option.

Shrestha Basu Mallick, Logan Kilpatrick
4 min readintermediate
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Overview

The article discusses the updates to the Gemini 2.5 model family, including the introduction of Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite, which offers lower latency and cost. It highlights the stability of Gemini 2.5 Pro and Flash models, along with pricing updates and the reasoning capabilities of these models.

What You'll Learn

1

How to utilize Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite for high throughput tasks

2

Why Gemini 2.5 Pro is ideal for coding and agentic tasks

3

How to manage pricing updates for Gemini 2.5 models

Key Questions Answered

What are the key features of Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite?
Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is designed for low latency and cost, optimized for high throughput tasks like classification and summarization. It allows dynamic control of the thinking budget via an API parameter and supports native tools like Grounding with Google Search and function calling.
What pricing updates were made for Gemini 2.5 Flash?
The pricing for Gemini 2.5 Flash has been updated to $0.30 per 1M input tokens and $2.50 per 1M output tokens, with the removal of the thinking vs. non-thinking price difference, simplifying the pricing structure for developers.
How does Gemini 2.5 Pro support developer tools?
Gemini 2.5 Pro is the most demanded model, providing high intelligence and capabilities for coding and agentic tasks. It is integrated into many popular developer tools, enhancing their functionality and user experience.

Key Statistics & Figures

Input token pricing for Gemini 2.5 Flash
$0.30 / 1M input tokens
This is an increase from the previous price of $0.15 per input token.
Output token pricing for Gemini 2.5 Flash
$2.50 / 1M output tokens
This is a decrease from the previous price of $3.50 per output token.

Technologies & Tools

AI/ML
Gemini 2.5 Pro
Used for high intelligence tasks in developer tools.
AI/ML
Gemini 2.5 Flash-lite
Optimized for low latency and cost-effective applications.

Key Actionable Insights

1
Leverage Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite for applications requiring quick responses and cost efficiency.
This model is particularly beneficial for tasks that demand high throughput, such as classification or summarization, making it ideal for businesses focused on performance.
2
Transition to the stable version of Gemini 2.5 Flash to benefit from improved pricing and performance.
With the new pricing structure, developers can optimize their costs while utilizing a stable and robust model for their applications.
3
Utilize the reasoning capabilities of Gemini models to enhance application responses.
By controlling the thinking budget, developers can fine-tune how much processing the model does before generating a response, improving accuracy and relevance.

Common Pitfalls

1
Confusion regarding the pricing structure of Gemini 2.5 Flash due to previous distinctions between thinking and non-thinking prices.
This confusion arose from the initial launch, which included separate pricing tiers. The recent updates aim to simplify this for developers.