Google's public AI model lineup is pretty bad right now. Gemini 3.1 Pro is scoring worse than some mid-sized Chinese models at 1/20th the cost, and their Flash and Flash Light models are horrendously overpriced on task benchmarks compared to GPT 5.6 Luna or the mid-sized Chinese models.

There's no reason why Google's public stuff is this stale, overpriced and underwhelming. But at least until their next round of models drops, even calling them a "frontier lab" is starting to feel like a stretch. Which is weird!