Overview
- Google announced new AI pricing at I/O 2026, introducing a $100/month AI Ultra tier and cutting the top Ultra price to $200 to create clearer developer and power‑user steps.
- The company began replacing fixed prompt counts with a compute‑based quota for Gemini that factors prompt complexity, chat length and feature use, with five‑hour refresh windows and a broader weekly cap.
- Paid Gemini users reported rapid quota depletion for complex tasks and long chats, prompting widespread online backlash and reports of unexpected five‑hour lockouts.
- In response, Google published a usage dashboard, raised some backend rate limits, offered pay‑as‑you‑go AI credits and applied targeted quota adjustments to help paid subscribers extend access.
- Google also boosted storage and developer features across tiers—AI Pro now includes 5TB plus YouTube Premium Lite in many countries while Ultra plans gain priority access to Antigravity, Gemini 3.5 Flash and up to 20TB—moves meant to harden its platform against rivals and lock in builders.