Google has begun emailing Google AI Plus subscribers to tell them the plan will lose the ability to select Pro models in the Gemini app and in AI Mode in Google Search in November. The emails seen so far name November 13, 2026 as the date the change takes effect for those subscribers.
The email, sent by the Google One team and quoted by 9to5Google, says: “Starting on 13 November 2026, the ability to select Pro models in both the Gemini app and AI Mode in Google Search will only be available to Google AI Pro subscribers and above.” AI Plus members keep access to the Flash-Lite and Flash models, and chats previously started with a Pro model can be continued with a different model. Google’s own help page on the model-access changes says subscribers are told their date by email, so November 13 is the date in the emails reported so far rather than a confirmed universal deadline. The change follows the launch of Gemini 4 Argon, which Google reserved for AI Pro and AI Ultra subscribers, and an earlier October tightening that already limited free accounts.
The move widens the gap between Google’s AI tiers: the $4.99 AI Plus plan keeps the faster, lighter models, while Pro model selection becomes a reason to pay $19.99 for AI Pro. For search, it means the quality of AI Mode answers will increasingly depend on which plan the searcher pays for, at a time when Google is also wiring commerce into those answers, as with the Universal Cart launch in Google Search and Gemini. How model tiers affect AI answers is becoming a standing question for the industry, alongside issues such as AI Overviews answering gibberish searches.
Source: 9to5Google and gHacks
0 Comments