# Gemini 3.5 and Spark put Google into the agent race > Source: > Published: 2026-05-19 17:45:00+00:00 The biggest name missing from the AI agent race so far in 2026 had been Google. Not anymore. On Tuesday at Google I/O, the search giant [announced](https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/models-and-research/gemini-models/gemini-3-5/) the new Gemini 3.5 family of models, which specialize in agentic capabilities. Rolling out now is Gemini 3.5 Flash, Google's quickest model, which it claims is four times faster than other frontier models while rivaling them in intelligence. It's available starting today in both the Gemini app and AI Mode in Google Search. While Google is only releasing Flash today, the emphasis is on cost savings as well as speed. Google believes people will find that Gemini 3.5 Flash can process workloads in a fraction of the time and often at less than half the cost of other frontier models. Google also said Gemini 3.5 Pro will roll out in June to handle more complex and challenging workloads. However, Gemini 3.5 Flash is already optimized for long-horizon agentic tasks. Coding tools and personal AI agents have been the dominant trends in AI this year, with OpenClaw, Claude Code, and OpenAI's Codex capturing the industry's imagination. Google also jumped into the personal AI agent race on Tuesday with the launch of Gemini Spark, running on Gemini 3.5 Flash. It rolls out to a private group of testers today and will come to Google AI Ultra subscribers in the US in beta starting next week. The company called Gemini 3.5 Flash "our strongest agentic and coding model yet, outperforming Gemini 3.1 Pro" on major benchmarks, including Terminal-Bench, GDPval-AA, MCP Atlas, and CharXiv Reasoning. Other related announcements included: **Gemini Omni**: Building on the success of Nano Banana, Google is rolling out Omni as its multimodal content-creation solution, starting with video. Omni allows you to "combine images, audio, video and text as input and generate high-quality videos grounded in Gemini's real-world knowledge."**Gemini app redesign**: Google overhauled the Gemini experience using a new design language called Neural Expressive that "features fluid animations, vibrant colors, new typography and haptic feedback."**Android Halo**: Provides at-a-glance visibility into what your Gemini Spark agent is working on at any given time, and allows you to communicate with your agent when needed.**Desktop app for macOS**: Gemini's installed Mac app will add Gemini Spark, allowing it to run on your local machine and match the capabilities of OpenAI's Codex, Anthropic's Claude Cowork, and Perplexity's Personal Computer. ## Our Deeper *View* Google I/O 2026 will likely go down as a major catch-up moment for Google as it makes up ground on the two hottest AI trends of the year: agents and coding. Of course, that will only be the case if Gemini Spark and the long-horizon coding capabilities deliver the same kind of value that AI enthusiasts are getting from rival tools right now. From a frontier-model standpoint, it's smart for Google to try to outpace its rivals in speed and token costs. It still has the extensive compute resources to play the long game and win.