Google I/O 2025: Veo 3, Imagen 4 and Gemini's New Paid Plans

Google held I/O on May 20, 2025 and detailed a broad Gemini update: Veo 3 with native audio, Imagen 4, free access to Gemini Live camera and screen sharing, and a reorganized paid offering. Google AI Ultra was a new plan; Google AI Pro was the renamed and expanded AI Premium plan.

Veo 3 generates video, sound and dialogue in one output

The centerpiece was Veo 3. Google presented it as its first model to generate video and audio together: effects, ambience, and even dialogue from the prompt. The claim that it was “the first in the world” belongs to the manufacturer; the source establishes the capability and Google's positioning, not an exhaustive audit of every existing model.

Initial availability was limited: Veo 3 reached the Gemini app on May 20 for Google AI Ultra subscribers in the United States. Google also announced it in Flow for Ultra and in Vertex AI for enterprise customers; “unveiled” did not mean general or free access.

Imagen 4 arrived alongside Veo 3. Google says it improves detail, speed, and rendering of text and typography. The product note said everyone could try it that day in Gemini, with an 18+ availability condition in the footnote; this did not mean unlimited access or uniform availability in every country.

Gemini Live, free for everyone with camera and screen sharing

Google removed the paywall from Gemini Live camera and screen sharing on Android and iOS. The note qualifies “everyone” with variable availability, an 18+ requirement, and a progressive iOS rollout. Free describes access to the feature; it does not certify the accuracy of what the system interprets in an image or recommends.

Google says Gemini Live conversations lasted five times longer on average than text conversations, but that note gives no sample, period, or definition of a conversation; this is an internal usage metric, not a measure of usefulness. It also announced future connections to Calendar, Maps, Tasks, and Keep. The future tense matters: these were planned integrations, not all available that day.

Deep Research, Canvas and Gemini's arrival in Chrome

Deep Research, the tool built for compiling research reports, now lets users add their own sources — such as PDFs or images — to cross-reference with public data. Google gives the example of a market analyst uploading internal sales figures in PDF form to compare against public trends, or an academic pulling in hard-to-find journal articles to enrich a literature review. The company says users will soon be able to research directly across Google Drive and Gmail as well.

Canvas, the creative space within the Gemini app, now benefits from the Gemini 2.5 models, enabling interactive infographics, quizzes and "Audio Overviews" (podcast-style summaries) in 45 languages. Google highlights 2.5 Pro's ability to translate complex ideas into working code with remarkable speed, which the company links to the "vibe coding" trend: describing an app in words and watching it take shape, lowering the barrier to building software.

Google also announced Gemini in Chrome. Rollout was due to begin May 21 for U.S. Pro and Ultra subscribers using English on Windows and macOS. The first version used the open page as context for clarification or summaries; working across tabs and navigating on the user's behalf remained future capabilities. That distinction keeps a roadmap demonstration separate from an available product.

Interactive quizzes and support for students

Among the education-focused updates, Gemini now offers interactive quizzes: users can simply ask it to, for example, create a practice exam on thermodynamics to get a personalized learning experience, with instant feedback that flags topics needing more attention. Once finished, Gemini proactively offers a follow-up quiz focused on those weak spots. The feature is rolling out today to all Gemini users worldwide, on both desktop and mobile.

Additionally, college students in the United States, Brazil, Indonesia, Japan and the United Kingdom are eligible for a free full school year of the Google AI Pro plan, with more countries expected soon.

Two paid plans: Google AI Pro and Google AI Ultra

The commercial reorganization had two different pieces. The existing AI Premium plan became Google AI Pro and retained a U.S. price of $19.99 per month, adding Flow, NotebookLM, and higher limits. It was not a wholly new second subscription; it was a renamed and expanded existing offer. The plan announcement says Pro received those improvements at no extra cost, first in the United States and later in more countries.

Google AI Ultra, meanwhile, is the top tier: access to Google's most powerful models with the highest usage limits and early access to the most notable experimental products before anyone else, including Veo 3 and the upcoming 2.5 Pro Deep Think mode. Ultra subscribers also get early access to Agent Mode, a new experimental capability coming soon to desktop: according to Google, users will simply need to state a goal, and Gemini will orchestrate the necessary steps on its own, combining live web browsing, in-depth research and integrations with Google apps to handle complex, multi-step tasks with minimal user oversight.

The bundle also included Flow's highest limits, 1080p video and advanced camera controls, 30 TB of storage, YouTube Premium and Project Mariner, which Google described as a prototype able to assist with up to ten tasks at once. The list mixed available benefits, early access and features promised for later; plan membership did not mean every item was ready in every country.

The U.S. launch price for Ultra was $249.99 per month, with 50% off for three months for first-time users. It was U.S.-only and Google promised more countries; these are dated launch terms, not a permanent worldwide price.

Google also confirmed that 2.5 Flash is now the default model in the Gemini app, combining, in the company's words, high quality with very fast response times.

What changes for current Gemini users

The announcements point to two clear moves. On one hand, Google is broadly giving away features that were previously paid or experimental, such as Gemini Live with camera and screen sharing or the interactive quizzes, instantly widening the pool of users who can try these capabilities. On the other, it's reserving the most computationally expensive features, like Veo 3 or the upcoming Agent Mode, for an Ultra plan that runs close to $250 a month — a figure that places Google at the high end of the AI subscription market and marks a striking gap versus its Pro plan, which is nearly twelve times cheaper.

Links to Chrome, Calendar, Maps, Tasks, and Keep point to Google's stated goal: an assistant that not only answers but acts within its applications. The primary source does not quantify how many people used that combined set daily; it documents dates, systems, languages, countries and eligible plans. The potential reach of an installed ecosystem is not the same as active users of a new feature.