Google DeepMind released two conversational audio models capable of real-time dialogue and background processing for consumers and developers. Gemini 3.8 Live is optimized for scale and cost efficiency, whereas Gemini 3.8 Live Extended Thinking provides higher precision and multi-step reasoning for complex tasks. Both versions feature automatic detection for 97 languages, real-time visual understanding, and background tool calling to maintain conversation flow.

The rollout includes Search Live and the Gemini app for general users, with a public preview for developers in AI Studio. Gemini 3.8 Live Extended Thinking is also available for Workspace subscribers in Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Keep. API pricing is $0.005 per minute for input and $0.018 per minute for output. The models posted an 82.6 score on the Artificial Analysis Quality Index and a 35.1 agentic task completion score in tau-banking, while all generated audio is watermarked using SynthID.