Google's new DeepMind chief signals Gemini 4 arriving well before end of 2026

Google appears poised to close the gap with rival AI makers by delivering its next flagship model sooner than expected. In his first public remarks since taking over Google DeepMind, Koray Kavukcuoglu indicated that Gemini 4 is undergoing final refinement and will ship "much earlier" than year-end 2026.

The Momentum Shift#

Kavukcuoglu stressed that Google intends to move quickly, telling The Information: "Our intention is to, like — as soon as possible — to release an early post-training output because we see the results and we are excited." He added that the company plans to accelerate its iteration pace going forward.

The leadership transition may be key to restoring momentum. Former DeepMind head Demis Hassabis departed in August after a period of delayed releases and strategic pivots that left Google trailing on new model launches.

Closing a Widening Gap#

Google has gone without a major flagship model release since November 2025's Gemini 3 series. In that interval, OpenAI rolled out GPT-6 and Anthropic released its Mythos series—both handily outperforming Gemini 3 and expanding each company's advantage in the race for AI leadership.

CEO Sundar Pichai had promised a significant Gemini 3.5 Pro upgrade in June at the I/O conference, but that release never materialized. Kavukcuoglu explained that Google "took a little bit of a step back" to prioritize faster, lighter Flash models instead of pushing out the intermediate upgrade.

Confidence at the Helm#

When pressed on whether Google risked falling permanently behind, Kavukcuoglu expressed little doubt: "In my mind, it's a certainty that we are always gonna be at the frontier."