Google's Gemini 4 Carbon Shows Improved Performance in Early Tests

Google's Gemini 4 Carbon, unveiled on October 28, is currently available to a limited group of cyber defenders, with broader access expected for developers and consumers later. Early testers on Arena have reported a new Carbon checkpoint, indicating significant improvements over previous versions. One user noted that the new model feels "noticeably better and faster than the last one," while another highlighted a build called Carbon-H, which is reportedly outperforming earlier Carbon iterations in coding, design, and 3D tasks.

Testers have observed that the latest version addresses earlier criticisms regarding speed, particularly in 3D work. A user shared a comparison between Carbon and Gemini 4 Argon, demonstrating that Carbon produces cleaner models using rounded shapes, unlike Argon's blocky assembly. Additionally, a notable leaker praised Carbon's performance in Three.js, stating it shows "no laziness at all" and takes time to generate thoughtful responses, although frontend development remains a challenge that users hope Google will address.

In a separate evaluation, one user rated Carbon's pixel-style T-Rex animation higher than those produced by other models, suggesting it demonstrated the most improvement. Meanwhile, security expert Nagli from Wiz reported that Carbon has been instrumental in discovering novel exploit chains during bug hunting. Despite the positive feedback, it is important to note that Arena does not disclose which checkpoint generated specific outputs, and Google has not commented on the updates. The company plans to launch Carbon at the same pricing as Argon, set at $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens.