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.

In November, Google released its Gemini 3 AI model, whose success ⁠prompted rival OpenAI to issue an internal “code red” ⁠to push teams to accelerate development.

Gemini 3 has significantly boosted user engagement, ‌helping the Gemini app capture more than 750 million monthly active users at the ​end of December.