US Edition

Google launched Nano Banana 2 Lite on June 30, 2026, a text-to-image model generating images in four seconds at $0.034 each, already embedded in Google Search, Ads, and NotebookLM. The model ranks fifth on quality benchmarks but that misses the point: Google is using commodity image AI to lock advertisers and developers into its stack, putting pressure on standalone image generation startups who can't compete on distribution or price.