Google rolls out Nano Banana 2 after viral success of AI image generation tool

Google on Thursday unveiled a successor to its viral ​Nano Banana image ​generation model, touting faster performance as the search-engine ​behemoth pushes to attract more users to its AI tools.

The model, called Nano Banana 2, is being rolled out across products, including the ‌Gemini app, ⁠AI Mode ⁠and Lens features on Search, and Flow, its AI-powered video tool, ​the Alphabet-owned company said.

The launch is Google’s latest in a series of ​moves that have propelled the company to the forefront of the AI race, helping it better compete with OpenAI’s ChatGPT ​after suffering a string of embarrassments initially. ⁠The success ‌has fueled a 47% surge in its ​stock in ​the past six months.

Google rolled out the ⁠Nano Banana AI image editor in August, which quickly became a viral sensation, attracting 13 million first-time users to the Gemini app in just four days in September. By mid-October, it had generated more than 5 billion images.

The tech giant followed that with the release of the upgraded Nano Banana Pro in November.

Nano Banana ‌2 leans on Gemini’s faster and cheaper models known as Flash, which allows quicker image generation ​and editing, Google ​said, adding ⁠that it also has better instruction-following capabilities and delivers sharper details.