Google to Launch Gemini 3.8 Flash, Dropping 3.5 Pro, WSJ Reports

According to The Wall Street Journal, Google plans to release Gemini 3.8 Flash, codenamed "Skimaki," today. Multiple sources corroborate the report, though no official announcement had been made as of posting time.

Confirmed

• Several users (@markk, @brandongalang) have spotted Gemini 3.8 Flash in consumer apps, indicating an imminent launch
• WSJ reports the version makes major strides in agent-based coding
• In head-to-head tests within Google's internal coding tool Jetski, Google engineers preferred Gemini 3.8 Flash over Anthropic's models (relayed by @kimmonismus citing WSJ)

Unconfirmed

• WSJ says Google has officially abandoned the 3.5 Pro checkpoint, citing limited performance gains over the Flash line; the report as relayed by @Hesamation also speculates Google may skip 3.5 Pro entirely and launch straight to Gemini 4 once training completes — these remain media reports and speculation, with no official Google announcement
• @markk says the launch date is one day later than his earlier prediction — a personal forecast

Why it matters

• If an internal Flash model already beats Anthropic's flagship, it could reshape the competitive landscape for small and mid-sized models
• Dropping 3.5 Pro suggests Google's roadmap may shift to a two-tier structure of "lightweight Flash + Gemini 4 flagship," skipping the intermediate version

2026-09-02 ~ 2026-09-02 · 10 related posts

Full story(2 episodes)→

• Episode 1: Google to Launch Gemini 3.8 Flash, Dropping 3.5 Pro, WSJ Reports(2026-09-02, 10 posts)
• Episode 2: Gemini 3.8 Flash spotted in shadow rollout across app and Cloud console(2026-09-02, 9 posts)

• [source] WSJ: Gemini 3.8 Flash drops tomorrow, preferred over Opus in internal coding tests — kimmonismus · 2026-09-02
• Rumor: Gemini 3.8 Flash Arrives Tomorrow, Skipping 3.5 Pro — Hesamation · 2026-09-02
• [source] WSJ: Gemini 3.8 Flash to release today, 3.5 Pro checkpoints scrapped — Mysterious_Bed_1804 · 2026-09-02
• Gemini 3.8 Flash hits consumer app ahead of release — brandon_galang · 2026-09-02
• Rumor: Google DeepMind to release Gemini 3.8 Flash today — mark_k · 2026-09-02
• [source] Google scraps Gemini 3.5 Pro, to launch Gemini 3.8 Flash tomorrow with coding gains over Opus — 新智元 · 2026-09-02
• Gemini 3.8 Flash Expected to Drop Tonight, Echoing WSJ Report — xiaohu · 2026-09-02
• WSJ: Google Set to Ship Coding-First Gemini 3.8 Flash, Codenamed Skimaki — ChuckDBrooks · 2026-09-02
• Gemini 3.8 Flash rumored imminent, but users may need convincing — CtrlAltDwayne · 2026-09-02
• Leak: Gemini 3.8 Flash expected to drop tonight amid endless minor version bumps — lipeng0820 · 2026-09-02