Google launched Gemini 3 on November 18, triggering widespread enthusiasm across the tech industry and pushing Alphabet stock up 6% in trading. Just days later, the company has significantly curtailed free access to the model due to overwhelming demand, reducing daily limits for non-paying users and temporarily suspending key features.
Free Tier Gets Squeezed#
Free users who previously enjoyed up to five prompts per day now face uncertain “basic access” with fluctuating daily caps that can drop as low as three prompts. Image generation using Nano Banana Pro, the model’s image creation tool, has been reduced from three to two images daily for free accounts.
Google’s NotebookLM service has temporarily rolled back its new infographic and slide deck features for free users, citing capacity constraints. Paid subscribers on Google AI Pro ($19.99/month) and AI Ultra ($249.99/month) plans remain unaffected, retaining their full access to 100 and 500 daily prompts respectively.
Silicon Valley Takes Notice#
The launch sparked major industry reaction. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff declared on November 24 that he was abandoning ChatGPT after three years of daily use. “The leap is insane—reasoning, speed, images, video… everything is sharper and faster,” Benioff wrote on X, adding “It feels like the world just changed, again.”
Alphabet stock jumped 6% following Benioff’s endorsement and continued climbing, bringing the company’s market capitalization to nearly $3.9 trillion and pushing it closer to the $4 trillion threshold. The rally reflects investor optimism about Google’s proprietary Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) chips, which power Gemini 3 and offer an alternative to Nvidia’s dominant GPUs.
Competitive Pressure Intensifies#
Gemini 3 quickly topped the LMArena leaderboard with a score of 1501, outperforming OpenAI’s GPT-5.1 in most benchmarks. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman warned employees in an internal memo to expect “rough vibes” and “temporary economic headwinds” as Google’s progress intensifies competition.
Meanwhile, Nvidia stock dropped 5% amid reports that Meta Platforms is considering switching to Google’s TPU chips starting in 2027—a potential blow to Nvidia’s AI infrastructure dominance.
The demand surge underscores Gemini 3’s market impact, but also highlights the infrastructure challenges even tech giants face when launching breakthrough AI products.