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Gemini 2.5 Flash

developers.googleblog.com

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Re: Gemini 2.5 Flash

#171

Post by shmoogy »

stefan_ wrote: post #128
mmaunder wrote: post #93

More great innovation from Google. OpenAI have two major problems. The first is Google's vertically integrated chip pipeline and deep supply chain and operational knowledge when it comes to creating AI chips and putting them into production. They have a massive cost advantage at every step. This translates into more free services, cheaper paid services, more capabilities due to more affordable compute, and far more g…

I don't know man, for months now people keep telling me on HN how "Google is winning", yet no normal person I ever asked knows what the fuck "Gemini" is. I don't know what they are winning, it might be internet points for all I know. Actually, some of the people polled recalled the Google AI efforts by their expert system recommending glue on pizza and smoking in pregnancy. It's a big joke.

That was ages ago.

Their new models excel at many things. Image editing, parsing PDFs, and coding are what I use it for. It's significantly cheaper than the closest competing models (Gemini 2.5 pro, and flash experimental with image generation).

Highly recommend testing against openai and anthropic models - you'll likely be pleasantly surprised.

Re: Gemini 2.5 Flash

#172

Post by Keyframe »

eastbound wrote: post #136
Keyframe wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google has the data and has the hardware, not to mention software and infrastructure talent. Once this Bismarck turns around and it looks like it is, who can parry it for real? They have internet.zip and all the previous versions as well, they have youtube, email, search, books, traffic, maps and business on it, phones and habits around it, even the OG social network, the usenet. It's a sleeping giant starting to wak…

They have the Excel spreadsheets of all startups and businesses of the world (well 50/50 with Microsoft). And Atlassian has all the project data.

I still can't understand how google missed on github, especially since they were in the same space before with google code. I do understand how they couldn't make a github though.

Re: Gemini 2.5 Flash

#173

Post by zoogeny »

dr_kiszonka wrote: post #166
zoogeny wrote: post #131

Google making Gemini 2.5 Pro (Experimental) free was a big deal. I haven't tried the more expensive OpenAI models so I can't even compare, only to the free models I have used of theirs in the past. Gemini 2.5 Pro is so much of a step up (IME) that I've become sold on Google's models in general. It not only is smarter than me on most of the subjects I engage with it, it also isn't completely obsequious. The model push…

I was a big fan of that model but it has been replaced in AI Studio by its preview version, which, by comparison, is pretty bad. I hope Google makes the release version much closer to the experimental one.

I can confirm the model name in Run Settings has been updated to "Gemini 2.5 Pro Preview ..." when it used to be "Gemini 2.5 Pro (Experimental) ...".

I cannot confirm if the quality is downgraded since I haven't had enough time with it. But if what you are saying is correct, I would be very sad. My big fear is the full-fat Gemini 2.5 Pro will be prohibitively expensive, but a dumbed down model (for the sake of cost) would also be saddening.

Re: Gemini 2.5 Flash

#174

Post by whyenot »

jdgoesmarching wrote: post #150
whyenot wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another advantage that Google has is the deep integration of Gemini into Google Office products and Gmail. I was part of a pilot group and got to use a pre-release version and it's really powerful and not something that will be easy for OpenAI to match.

You say deep integration, yet there is still no way to send a Gemini Canvas to Docs without a lot of tedious copy-pasting and formatting because Docs still doesn’t actually support markdown. Gemini in Google Office in general has been a massive disappointment for all but the most simplistic of writing tasks. They can have the most advanced infrastructure in the world, but it doesn’t mean much if Google continues its…

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but there is literally a Share button in Canvas right below each response with the option to export to Docs. Within Docs, you can also click on the Gemini "star" at the upper right to get a prompt and then also export into the open document. Note that this is a with "experimental" Gemini 2.5 Pro.

Re: Gemini 2.5 Flash

#175

Post by zoogeny »

mmaunder wrote: post #158
mdp2021 wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you please expand, on both your points?

Note sure why their comment was downvoted. Google the names. Hassabis runs DeepMind at Google which makes Gemini and he's quite brilliant and has an unbelievable track record. Buffet investing in teams points out that there are smart people out there that think good leadership is a good predictor of future success.

It may not be relevant to everyone, but it is worth noting that his contribution to AlpaFold won Hassabis a Nobel prize in chemistry.

Re: Gemini 2.5 Flash

#176

Post by redbell »

arnaudsm wrote: post #6

Gemini flash models have the least hype, but in my experience in production have the best bang for the buck and multimodal tooling. Google is silently winning the AI race.

> Google is silently winning the AI race

Yep, I agree! This convinced me: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43661235

Re: Gemini 2.5 Flash

#177

Post by mdp2021 »

mmaunder wrote: post #158
mdp2021 wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you please expand, on both your points?

Note sure why their comment was downvoted. Google the names. Hassabis runs DeepMind at Google which makes Gemini and he's quite brilliant and has an unbelievable track record. Buffet investing in teams points out that there are smart people out there that think good leadership is a good predictor of future success.

Zoogeny got downvoted? I did not do that. His comments deserved more details anyway (at the level of those kindly provided).

> Google the names

Was that a wink about the submission (a milestone from Google)? Read Zoogeny's delightful reply and see whether it can compare a search engine result (not to mention that I asked for Zoogeny's insight, not for trivia). And as a listener to Buffet and Munger, I can surely say that they rarely indulge in tautologies.

Re: Gemini 2.5 Flash

#178

Post by deanmoriarty »

Genuine naive question: when it comes to Google HN has generally a negative view of it (pick any random story on Chrome, ads, search, web, working at faang, etc. and this should be obvious from the comments), yet when it comes to AI there is a somewhat notable “cheering effect” for Google to win the AI race that goes beyond a conventional appreciation of a healthy competitive landscape, which may appear as a bit of a double standard.

Why is this? Is it because OpenAI is seen as such a negative player in this ecosystem that Google “gets a pass on this one”?

And bonus question: what do people think will happen to OpenAI if Google wins the race? Do you think they’ll literally just go bust?

Re: Gemini 2.5 Flash

#179

Post by daemonologist »

minimaxir wrote: post #139

One hidden note from Gemini 2.5 Flash when diving deep into the documentation: for image inputs, not only can the model be instructed to generated 2D bounding boxes of relevant subjects, but it can also create segmentation masks! https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/image-understanding#se... At this price point with the Flash model, creating segmentation masks is pretty nifty. The segmentation masks are a bit of a g…

Interestingly if you run this in Gemini (instead of AI Studio) you get:

    I am sorry, but I was unable to generate the segmentation masks for _ in the image due to an internal error with the tool required for this task.
(Not sure if that's a real or hallucinated error.)

Re: Gemini 2.5 Flash

#180

Post by parsimo2010 »

labrador wrote: post #163
mmaunder wrote: post #93

More great innovation from Google. OpenAI have two major problems. The first is Google's vertically integrated chip pipeline and deep supply chain and operational knowledge when it comes to creating AI chips and putting them into production. They have a massive cost advantage at every step. This translates into more free services, cheaper paid services, more capabilities due to more affordable compute, and far more g…

> If the only answer for both is "we'll build it from scratch", OpenAI is in very big trouble They could buy Google+ code from Google and resurrect it with OpenAI branding. Alternately they could partner with Bluesky

I don't think the issue is solving the technical implementation of a new social media platform. The issue is whether a new social media platform from OpenAI will deliver the kind of value that existing platforms deliver. If they promise investors that they'll get TikTok/Meta/YouTube levels of content+interaction (and all the data that comes with it), but deliver Mastodon levels, then they are in trouble.
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