Rumour: analysts say Google quietly killed the Gemini model Pichai promised in May — Google calls the analysis 'superficial'
This is an unverified claim and Google has not announced any cancellation. The research firm SemiAnalysis wrote in a note that Google has silently cancelled Gemini 3.5 Pro, the flagship Sundar Pichai said at I/O in May would arrive 'next month'. It never shipped; Gemini 3.5 Flash came in May and Gemini 3.6 Flash on 21 July, and SemiAnalysis says engineering has been redirected to Gemini 4. The claim spread quickly on X. Google's Logan Kilpatrick dismissed the SemiAnalysis piece as 'superficial' and pointed to Gemini 3.6 Flash's adoption — but did not say whether 3.5 Pro is dead, and Google's line remains that it is still testing it.
Why it mattersTake it as chatter, not fact. But it is chatter worth watching: a cancelled flagship would be the first time in this cycle that a top lab abandoned a named model mid-flight rather than shipping something. Note also what Google did not say. A denial of a report's quality is not a denial of its central claim, and that gap is exactly where this rumour lives.
⚠ Unverified rumor — treat with caution
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