Gemini 3.5 Pro Faces Unexpected Setback: What the Coding Delay Means for the Future

So, what happens when one of the biggest tech giants hits a speed bump on the AI racetrack? Google’s Gemini 3.5 Pro, touted as the next big leap forward, is now sitting months behind schedule — and it’s all because their coding skills just aren’t quite cutting it yet. You’d think with all the buzz at I/O, the rollout would’ve happened “next month” as promised back in May, but nope. Instead, Google’s scrambling, testing behind the scenes, while competitors like Anthropic and OpenAI seem to be sprinting ahead. It’s like watching a high-stakes chess game where one player’s plotting while the other races—makes you wonder, can Google catch up before the game changes again? Dive into what’s really stalling Gemini’s rise and what it says about the future of AI models. LEARN MORE.

Google’s Gemini 3.5 Pro is months behind schedule as the company works to improve its capabilities, particularly in coding, Bloomberg reported. Google said in May that it expected to ship the model the following month.

What Google Said In May

Google announced the Gemini 3.5 series at I/O and released 3.5 Flash the same day. On the flagship, Google’s blog post said 3.5 Pro was already in internal use and added that the company looked “forward to rolling it out next month.”

That post is dated May 19. Next month was June.

As of publication, the Gemini API release notes carry no entry for a Gemini 3.5 Pro model.

What Bloomberg Reports Is Holding It Up

Julia Love and Davey Alba reported the delay, citing people familiar with the matter. Ten current and former employees described frustration inside the company, with concern that Google is losing ground while Anthropic and OpenAI ship models that outperform Gemini. The people declined to be named discussing internal concerns.

Google updated the data used to train Gemini late last month to improve its coding skills, and the results were disappointing, one of them said.

A Google spokesperson told Bloomberg the company is “currently testing 3.5 Pro” with partners, along with an upgraded Flash model.

The Agentic Coding Gap Google Has Already Named

In May, SEJ covered Pichai saying Google was “a bit behind” the frontier on agentic coding, which he tied to Google not having the kind of developer-facing coding product that generates data for competitors.

SEJ’s June coverage of two senior departures from Google’s AI org also cited Bloomberg reporting on concerns inside DeepMind about what Google offers businesses building AI coding tools.

Pichai’s comments show Google had already acknowledged trailing in agentic coding. Bloomberg now reports that broader coding performance is one factor holding up 3.5 Pro.

Why This Matters

The report doesn’t point to an immediate change in Search. What it touches is Google’s model timeline.

At I/O, Google made 3.5 Flash the default model in AI Mode globally. Google’s materials didn’t say 3.5 Pro would replace it, so a late flagship tells you nothing about the answers Search is generating today.

On the timeline, Google missed the public rollout expectation it gave in May and, as of publication, hasn’t announced a replacement date.

Looking Ahead

Google’s statement to Bloomberg described testing with partners, which is not a rollout, and the company hasn’t named a new month.

Until it does, 3.5 Flash is the only model Google has released in the 3.5 series. Anything circulating about when Pro arrives traces back to reporting rather than to Google.

Featured Image: Google