Google makes Gemini's Nano Banana personalized image generation free for US users

Google announced that Gemini's personalized Nano Banana-powered image generation is now free for all eligible US users, expanding access from paid Plus, Pro, and Ultra subscribers. First previewed in April, the Personal Intelligence feature generates images that reflect a user's interests without requiring them to spell out preferences in the prompt.

The mechanism relies on Google account connections: Gemini reads data from Gmail, Google Photos, YouTube, and Search (opt-in per app) to infer likes. A user can request "an illustration of me and my favorite things" and Gemini fills in specifics like coffee and baking automatically, even pulling actual photos of the user from Google Photos rather than requiring manual uploads. Personal Intelligence is opt-in and can be disabled per prompt via a Tools-menu toggle.

Separately, Google added two lower-cost generative media models to the Gemini API and AI Studio: Nano Banana 2 Lite (Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite Image), pitched as its fastest and cheapest image model at $0.034 per 1K images and sub-4-second generation, and Gemini Omni Flash for video editing at $0.10/sec. AI Studio lead Logan Kilpatrick announced both, and CEOs Sundar Pichai and Demis Hassabis amplified the launch.

The free rollout is a clear play to blunt ChatGPT and Claude's consumer momentum by leveraging Google's unmatched personal-data graph. The privacy trade-off is the obvious flashpoint: granting an image model access to Gmail and Photos is powerful but invasive, and the opt-in framing will be scrutinized. Watch adoption and whether Google extends the free tier beyond the US.