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Wednesday, Sep 30, 2026

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Google’s Gemini 4 Argon Matches GPT-6 Astra in Tests at 40% Lower Launch CostGOOGL
topics 🤖 AI tags AIAI ModelsAI ReleasesAI ProductsAI Agents GOOGL keywords GoogleClaude Sonnet

Google’s Gemini 4 Argon scored 53 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, matching GPT-6 Astra while costing $1.99 per benchmark task at introductory prices, versus Astra’s $3.26. The evaluation used Argon’s high reasoning setting and Astra’s maximum setting. Argon finished one point ahead of GPT-6.1 Sol, though its cost per task was 2.7 times higher than Sol’s.

Argon’s cost advantage over Astra depends on a 50% launch discount, whose end date Google has not confirmed. At standard pricing, its benchmark cost rises to $3.98 per task, about 20% above Astra. The savings come from lower token prices rather than lower usage: Argon averaged 62,000 output tokens per task, compared with Astra’s 27,000. Introductory prices are $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens, rising to $4 and $20 after the promotion.

On the AA-Omniscience test, Argon had a 15% hallucination rate versus Astra’s 51%, reflecting a greater willingness to acknowledge uncertainty rather than guess incorrectly. Its answer accuracy was lower, however, at 50% versus Astra’s 63%. Argon also led AutomationBench-AA with 77.5%, ahead of Claude Sonnet 5.5’s 71.3%. Access remains limited to selected testers and trusted cyber defenders through Google’s Fairwind Program, alongside internal use, ahead of a broader release.

Image via @artificialanlys on X
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