Gemini users finally get Imagen 3 for premium image generation

Following its preview at I/O 2024 in May and announcement in August along with Gems, Imagen 3 has finally arrived for all Gemini users, as Google announced a major update to its AI model to power the visual capabilities of the Gemini chatbot. Developers using the Gemini API will also be able to access Imagen 3 for building applications and experiences with enhanced visual capabilities, as per reports.

Google has said that Imagen 3 offers greater versatility, improved prompt understanding, higher quality images, and better text rendering. Google, in a post on X, confirmed that all users of the Gemini app can now create images with this advanced model, and early tests have shown that it outperforms comparable models like Meta AI.

“Imagen 3 is our highest quality image generation model yet, bringing an even higher degree of photorealism, better instruction following, and fewer distracting artefacts than ever before,” said Google.

To access the features, users must provide prompts that start with "draw," "generate," or "create," while mentioning the desired style, such as photorealistic, watercolor, painting, or cartoon illustration. Gemini informs users that it is creating an image with Imagen 3, and users can download the image with a SynthID watermark in place.

Google describes SynthID as “SynthID watermarks and identifies AI-generated content by embedding digital watermarks directly into AI-generated images, audio, text, or video.”

The Imagen 3 model is now available within the Gemini app and API, making it easier than ever for developers and users alike to explore and leverage Google’s latest advances in AI image generation.

In related developments, Google is rolling out the "Ask Photos" feature for a limited group of users in the US. This new functionality, driven by Gemini, is being introduced as a server-side update in the Google Photos app, so it isn't reliant on the specific version users have. Ask Photos enables users to pose questions in natural language directly within the app, utilizing Google’s Gemini AI models.