Google's most powerful flagship model, Gemini 3.5 Pro, is now running months behind schedule as engineers struggle to bring its coding capabilities up to internal benchmarks, according to a report published July 16, 2026.
July 16, 2026 · Alphabet / Google DeepMind
Gemini 3.5 Pro Stalls as Coding Falls Short of Google's Own Benchmarks
Google's most powerful flagship is running months behind schedule, with engineers struggling to lift its coding abilities to internal goals — even as OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta ship models seen as stronger on code and agentic tasks.
~4%
Alphabet shares fell after the report
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Current & former employees describing the delay
3
Rivals shipping ahead: OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta
The target keeps sliding
May (I/O)
Pichai signals "next month"; Flash shipped
→
June → July
Data refresh misses; target slips
→
"Several months"
Pro still unreleased
Column height reflects the widening gap between promise and delivery.
The sticking point
Coding is the primary holdup. A June refresh of training data meant to boost programming ability fell short of expectations.
Coding benchmarks below internal goals
Agentic tasks trailing rivals
Many stakeholders slowing launch
Researchers departing to Anthropic
The patient view
Better to take the time and ship a genuinely competitive model than rush an underwhelming release.
The critical view
The delay reflects a real competitiveness gap; existing Gemini models already trail rivals on coding and agents.
The open question: can Google close the coding gap before OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta extend their lead — with Flash already deployed and Pro held back?
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