Gemini Live 3.8 Extended Thinking
Released on September 15, 2026
Changes from previous version
Same live-audio stack as Gemini Live 3.8, with background extended thinking and live progress narration for high-complexity workflows instead of the default low-latency path.
Release Summary
High-reasoning sibling of Gemini Live 3.8 for complex multi-step voice agents. Reasons and speaks at the same time, with configurable thinking_level (low, medium, or high) and async-only tool calls. Google reports #1 on the Speech to Speech Quality Index (82.6), 68.6% on tau-Voice, 35.1% on Sierra tau-Voice-banking, and 97.7% on Big Bench Audio. API ID gemini-3.8-live-extended-thinking. Same audio list rates as 3.8 Live. Rolling out in the Gemini API, Google AI Studio, Gemini Live, and Workspace Docs, Gmail, and Keep.
Timeline
Gemini 3.8 Live Extended Thinking released
Google ships the extended-thinking Live model in the Gemini API, Gemini Live, and Workspace Docs, Gmail, and Keep.