In its latest push to change the AI ​​landscape, Announced by Google Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinkinga multimodal reasoning model capable of dealing with complex problems with speed and transparency.

In a post on social network XGoogle CEO Sundar Pichai wrote that it is: “Our most thoughtful model yet:)”

And on developer documentationGoogle explains, “Thinking Mode enables stronger reasoning capabilities in its responses than base. Gemini 2.0 Flash model,” which was then Google’s latest and greatest, released just eight days ago.

The new model only supports 32,000 input tokens (approx 50-60 pages worth of text) and generate 8,000 tokens per output response. In a side panel of Google AI Studio, the company claims it’s best for “multimodal understanding, reasoning” and “coding.”

Full details of the model’s training process, architecture, licensing, and cost have yet to be released. Currently, it shows zero cost per token in Google AI Studio.

Accessible and more transparent reasoning

Unlike competitor reasoning models o1 and o1 mini from OpenAIGemini 2.0 enables users to access its subsequent reasoning through a dropdown menu, which offers a clearer, more transparent understanding of how the model arrives at its conclusions.

By allowing users to see how decisions are made, Gemini 2.0 addresses long-standing concerns about AI acting as a “black box,” and brings this model – licensing terms that not yet clear – which are equal other open-source models put out by competitors.

My early simple tests of the model showed it correctly and quickly (within one to three seconds) answered some questions that are very famous for other AI models, such as counting the number of Rs in the word “Strawberry.” (See screenshot above).

In another test, when comparing two decimal numbers (9.9 and 9.11), the model systematically breaks the problem down into smaller steps, from analyzing whole numbers to comparing decimal places.

These results are backed up by independent third-party analysis from LM Arenawhich named Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking the number one performing model in all LLM categories.

Native support for image upload and analysis

In a further development of the rival OpenAI o1 family, Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking is designed to process images from the jump.

o1 launched as a text-only model, but has since expanded to include image and file upload analysis. Both models can also return text, this time.

Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking also does not currently support Google Search grounding, or integration with other Google apps and external third-party tools, according to developer documentation.

The multimodal capability of Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking expands its possible use cases, enabling it to deal with situations that combine different types of data.

For example, in one test, the model solved a puzzle that required the analysis of textual and visual elements, showing its versatility in combining and rationalizing formats.

Developers can use these features through Google AI Studio and Vertex AI, where the model is available for experimentation.

As the AI ​​landscape becomes increasingly competitive, Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking could mark the beginning of a new era for problem-solving models. Its ability to handle different types of data, offer visible reasoning, and make its scale positions as a serious contender in the reasoning AI market, competing with the o1 family of OpenAI and ahead.