{"slug": "gemini-4-pro-is-being-tested-in-arena-say-some-x-users", "title": "Gemini 4 Pro Is Being Tested In Arena, Say Some X Users", "summary": "Several X users reported that Google's Gemini 4 Pro is being tested on Arena under the model name 'Gemini 3.8 Flash', with one user citing a 256k output ceiling as evidence the model is Gemini 4 Pro. Google said in July it was testing Gemini 3.5 Pro with partners and had begun Gemini 4 Pro's pre-training run, and the company has since released Gemini 3.6 Flash, Gemini 3.7 Flash and Gemini 3.8 Flash in quick succession. The reported Arena results matter because Google lacks a frontier coding model of its own and has allowed all engineers to use Anthropic's Claude for code alongside Gemini.", "body_md": "Gemini 3.5 Pro never quite made an appearance after being announced at Google IO in June, but it appears that Gemini 4 could be close to release.\n\nSeveral X users have said that Gemini 4 is being tested out on Arena under the ‘Gemini 3.8 Flash’ model name. Arena lets users compare the outputs of two AI models on the same prompt and choose which one they like better.\n\nSome of the outputs of the purported Gemini 4 Pro model seemed fairly impressive.\n\nAnother user said that they’d tested the output ceiling and it was 256k, indicating that the model was Gemini 4 Pro.\n\nGoogle had [said](https://officechai.com/ai/gemini-3-5-pro-is-testing-with-partners-have-begun-pre-training-run-for-gemini-4-pro-google/) in July that it was testing Gemini 3.5 Pro with partners, and had simultaneously begun Gemini 4 Pro’s pre-training run. There had been some speculation that Gemini 3.5 Pro was being tested out on Arena at that time, but it appears that the results didn’t fully satisfy Google, likely because Gemini 3.5 Pro would’ve trailed the frontier at the time. But the company has put its weight behind Gemini 4 Pro, and it appears that Gemini 3.5 Pro might end up getting skipped altogether. In the meantime, Google has released [Gemini 3.6 Flash](https://officechai.com/ai/gemini-3-6-flash-benchmarks/), [Gemini 3.7 Flash](https://officechai.com/ai/google-says-that-gemini-3-7-flash-is-its-fastest-growing-model-ever/) and [Gemini 3.8 Flash](https://officechai.com/ai/gemini-3-8-flash-scores-59-on-artificial-analysis-intelligence-index-jumps-3-points-over-gemini-3-7-flash/) in quick succession. These models haven’t quite been at the frontier, but have kept Google in the running the [list](https://officechai.com/ai/google-drops-out-of-top-5-ai-labs-on-artificial-analysis-intelligence-index-for-the-first-time/) of the top 10 AI model providers.\n\nA lot is riding in Gemini 4 Pro. Google already seems to be struggling with not having a frontier coding model of its own, even for internal development purposes — a report had said that Google had allowed all engineers to use Claude to write their code in addition to Gemini. If Google doesn’t make it to the frontier with Gemini 4.0, Anthropic and OpenAI might be able to open too much of a lead, especially enabled by being able to use their internal coding models, that Google could find it hard to catch up. But if early indications from Arena are an indication, Google could soon be able to have a throw of the dice with a frontier release.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/gemini-4-pro-is-being-tested-in-arena-say-some-x-users", "canonical_source": "https://officechai.com/ai/gemini-4-0-pro-arena/", "published_at": "2026-09-17 14:11:53+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-09-17 14:23:54.045769+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["large-language-models", "ai-products", "generative-ai", "ai-research"], "entities": ["Google", "Gemini 4 Pro", "Gemini 3.5 Pro", "Gemini 3.8 Flash", "Gemini 3.6 Flash", "Gemini 3.7 Flash", "Arena", "Anthropic"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/gemini-4-pro-is-being-tested-in-arena-say-some-x-users", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/gemini-4-pro-is-being-tested-in-arena-say-some-x-users.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/gemini-4-pro-is-being-tested-in-arena-say-some-x-users.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/gemini-4-pro-is-being-tested-in-arena-say-some-x-users.jsonld"}}