Google ships Nano Banana 2 Lite, its fastest and cheapest image model

Nano Banana 2 Lite is optimized for high-volume, low-latency workflows — Google says it can workshop and produce large numbers of images in quick succession, making it well suited for drafting and iterating content at scale. At $0.034 per 1,000 images and ~4-second generation, it undercuts and speeds past the February Nano Banana 2 ('generalist workhorse') and sits below the more powerful Nano Banana Pro.

AI Studio lead Logan Kilpatrick announced it alongside Gemini Omni Flash, positioning both as new generative-media models in the Gemini API; Omni Flash targets video editing at $0.10/sec (matching Veo 3.1 Fast) and, per Demis Hassabis, took first place on Video Arena with an Elo of 1404.

The release lands amid consumer backlash over 'AI slop' — Google itself cited data that 60% of TikTok videos and 21% of YouTube videos are AI-generated — yet the company continues investing heavily, marketing these tools for advertising and creative workflows and tightening Hollywood ties (including a $75M A24 deal). Competitively, the aggressive pricing pressures OpenAI's image tools and open models like Krea 2, and reinforces Google's strategy of flooding the market with cheap, fast, API-accessible media generation. Watch adoption in enterprise agent pipelines where per-image cost at scale is the deciding factor.