Google's Gemini 4 'Carbon' Model Matches Anthropic's Opus 5.5 Coding Performance

Google has been testing several variants of its Gemini 4 model, including Argon, Barium, and Carbon, with the latter reportedly matching the coding performance of Anthropic’s Opus 5.5. According to internal documents and employee feedback seen by Business Insider, Google is working on refining its AI models, particularly in the realm of frontier reasoning. The company has been testing these variants on its internal platform, Jetski, where Carbon outperformed Argon mainly on programming tasks.

One employee compared Carbon’s performance to Opus 5.5, while another noted that early versions of Argon were comparable to older Opus 5 models in some coding tasks. This suggests that Google is making progress in developing its AI capabilities, particularly with the introduction of new variants like Argon and Carbon. The company has mapped its models to specific roles: ‘Argon for frontier reasoning, Flash for speed and volume, Omni for generative media, and Gemma for lightweight, open-weights edge workloads.’

The rapid development pace of Google’s AI models is reminiscent of the quick updates seen with the Flash models. This suggests that Google has improved its ability to use AI to build better AI models. In fact, a Google Deepmind employee, Vedant Misra, responded to the Business Insider report on X by referencing ‘recursive self-improvement,’ which involves using AI to improve itself. OpenAI and Anthropic have also reported similar progress in this area.

As for the Gemini 4 launch, there is still no official date announced, but Google is already preparing its apps for the new model. The company has introduced a new ‘Automatic’ mode for the 3-series models and adjustable reasoning intensity from low to high on the Gemini app. Additionally, Google AI Studio has unveiled a new ‘Ultra’ mode promising advanced skills and tools. Logan Kilpatrick, part of the team working on Argon, confirmed that they are striving to get the most out of this model.