Google released Gemini 4 Carbon to paying developers and businesses on Tuesday, following a limited rollout to cybersecurity defenders two weeks prior.
Setting Gemini 4 Carbon Pricing
Developers using the API in Google AI Studio and Gemini for business pay $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens, according to the company’s release announcement. Cached input tokens receive a 95% discount.
Google also began rolling out Carbon to Google AI Ultra subscribers who pay about $100 a month, as reported by digital outlets. These subscribers access the model in the Gemini app, AI Mode in Search, and Google’s coding tool, Antigravity.
Introductory token prices will eventually rise to $4 per million input tokens and $20 per million output tokens. Because Carbon reasons for longer and uses more tokens per task than earlier models, individual debugging or research sessions can cost more.
Measuring Carbon Performance
Carbon scored 59 on version 5.0 of the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index and rose 89 Elo points on WebDev Arena to reach 1768 points. The model handles tasks that test intelligence limits, including multi-step coding, debugging, and open-ended scientific research.
On SEC-bench Pro, which measures vulnerability detection, Carbon scored 88.2%. It achieved 54.8% on ExploitGym and 71.0% on Collinears CWE-bench for patches. Techzine noted that Wiz, Google’s cloud security platform, placed Carbon at the top of its benchmarks for web penetration testing.
Google keeps Carbon’s strongest hacking capabilities restricted. A dedicated cyber version remains available only to vetted defenders through the Fairwind Program.
Managing Workflows in Antigravity
Google previewed /swarm in Antigravity, a feature that transforms a single prompt into a coordinated team of AI agents that users track in real time.
Developers can assign Carbon to demanding architectural design, coordination, and auditing roles. They pair it with faster models across parallel workspaces and adversarial verifiers.
Google positions Gemini 4 Argon for standard software engineering and office work: it reserves Carbon for complex, extended verification loops.
