gemini-2.5-flash — Available or Retired — shutdown October 20, 2026 or No shutdown date announced or October 2, 2026 — sources disagree
For gemini-2.5-flash, provider is Google (Vertex AI); lifecycle status is disputed: Available per cloud.google.com, Retired per learn.microsoft.com; shutdown / retirement date is disputed: October 20, 2026 per cloud.google.com, No shutdown date announced per ai.google.dev, October 2, 2026 per learn.microsoft.com; recommended replacement is disputed: gemini-3.8-flash or gemini-3.5-flash-lite or gemini-3.1-flash-lite per cloud.google.com, Gemini 3.1 Pro or Gemini 3.5 Flash per learn.microsoft.com, recorded from its source on 2026-09-29; source re-checked 2026-10-13.
- Provider
- Google (Vertex AI) our reading
- Google (Gemini Developer API) per ai.google.dev
- Databricks per learn.microsoft.com
- Model ID / API name
- gemini-2.5-flash verified
- Lifecycle status
- Available sources disagree
- Release date
- June 17, 2025 verified
- Shutdown / retirement date
- October 20, 2026 sources disagree
- Recommended replacement
- gemini-3.8-flash or gemini-3.5-flash-lite or gemini-3.1-flash-lite sources disagree
- Platform / deployment scope
- Gemini Developer API (ai.google.dev) per ai.google.dev
Values marked our reading are our classification of what the source says — the source does not print them in those words. The quote below is the evidence for each one; judge it yourself.
What the source says
gemini-2.5-flash | June 17, 2025 | October 20, 2026 | gemini-3.8-flash or gemini-3.5-flash-lite or gemini-3.1-flash-lite |
— cloud.google.com, retrieved 2026-09-29
Where each value comes from
The values above are stated away from the sentence quoted with the answer, so the passage that states them is shown here too.
Release date and Shutdown / retirement date
Model ID | Release date | Retirement date | Replacement model ID | gemini-4-argon | October 13, 2026 | No retirement date announced | | gemini-3.5-flash-lite | July 21, 2026 | July 21, 2027 or later | | gemini-3.5-flash | May 19, 2026 | May 19, 2027 or later | | gemini-3.1-flash-lite | May 7, 2026 | May 7, 2027 or later | | gemini-2.5-pro | June 17, 2025 | October 20, 2026 | gemini-3.8-flash or gemini-3.5-flash | gemini-2.5-flash | June 17, 2025 | October 20, 2026 | gemini-3.8-flash or gemini-3.5-flash-lite or gemini-3.1-flash-lite |
— all from cloud.google.com, retrieved 2026-09-29
Sources disagree
More than one authority states this, and they do not state the same thing. Both are reproduced with the source each came from — deciding between them is yours, not ours.
Lifecycle status
cloud.google.com says lifecycle status is Available, as of 2026-09-29.
gemini-2.5-flash | June 17, 2025 | October 20, 2026 | gemini-3.8-flash or gemini-3.5-flash-lite or gemini-3.1-flash-lite |
https://cloud.google.com/vertex-ai/generative-ai/docs/learn/model-versioning
learn.microsoft.com says lifecycle status is Retired, as of 2026-10-02.
| Gemini 2.5 Flash | **Pay-per-token:** October 2, 2026**Provisioned throughput:** October 2, 2026 | Gemini 3.1 Pro or Gemini 3.5 Flash |
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/databricks/machine-learning/retired-models-policy
Shutdown / retirement date
cloud.google.com says shutdown / retirement date is October 20, 2026, as of 2026-09-29.
gemini-2.5-flash | June 17, 2025 | October 20, 2026 | gemini-3.8-flash or gemini-3.5-flash-lite or gemini-3.1-flash-lite |
https://cloud.google.com/vertex-ai/generative-ai/docs/learn/model-versioning
ai.google.dev says shutdown / retirement date is No shutdown date announced, as of 2026-09-21.
gemini-2.5-flash | June 17, 2025 | No shutdown date announced | |
https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/deprecations
learn.microsoft.com says shutdown / retirement date is October 2, 2026, as of 2026-10-02.
| Gemini 2.5 Flash | **Pay-per-token:** October 2, 2026**Provisioned throughput:** October 2, 2026 | Gemini 3.1 Pro or Gemini 3.5 Flash |
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/databricks/machine-learning/retired-models-policy
Recommended replacement
cloud.google.com says recommended replacement is gemini-3.8-flash or gemini-3.5-flash-lite or gemini-3.1-flash-lite, as of 2026-09-29.
gemini-2.5-flash | June 17, 2025 | October 20, 2026 | gemini-3.8-flash or gemini-3.5-flash-lite or gemini-3.1-flash-lite |
https://cloud.google.com/vertex-ai/generative-ai/docs/learn/model-versioning
learn.microsoft.com says recommended replacement is Gemini 3.1 Pro or Gemini 3.5 Flash, as of 2026-10-02.
| Gemini 2.5 Flash | **Pay-per-token:** October 2, 2026**Provisioned throughput:** October 2, 2026 | Gemini 3.1 Pro or Gemini 3.5 Flash |
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/databricks/machine-learning/retired-models-policy
Where the other sources' values come from
These values were taken from a passage elsewhere on the other source's page, not from the row quoted with it above.
Release date
Model | Release date | Shutdown date | Recommended replacement | gemini-2.5-flash | June 17, 2025 | No shutdown date announced | |
— ai.google.dev, retrieved 2026-09-21
Sources
- cloud.google.comhttps://cloud.google.com/vertex-ai/generative-ai/docs/learn/model-versioning
- ai.google.devhttps://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/deprecations
- learn.microsoft.comhttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/databricks/machine-learning/retired-models-policy