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Published by J9 Systems. What's new in business tech, and what it means for yours.

From the brief of Wednesday, October 14, 2026 · No. 5

From the daily brief · AI

Google releases Gemini 4 Argon on Oct. 13 at $2 per million input tokens

Google's new top-end model is included for Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers and is cheap enough over the API to price per document.

By Carter Josephson · · 2 min read

What happened

Google made Gemini 4 Argon, its newest frontier AI model, globally available on Oct. 13, 2026, through its API in AI Studio and the Gemini platform, to Google AI Ultra subscribers in Antigravity, and to Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers in the Gemini app and AI Mode in Search. API access launches at an introductory price of $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens, with cached input tokens 95% off.

What it means for a 10-to-50-person business

For most owners this matters only if someone on staff already pays for Google AI Pro or Ultra. If so, Argon appears in the Gemini app at no extra charge. Google's post does not say whether Google Workspace business plans get it. Its benchmark claims, including #1 on the Vals Index for finance, legal and tax work, are Google's own.

The API price is where the numbers get concrete. Take an 18-person accounting firm that sends client bank statements and 1099s to a model to pull out figures, about 2,000 documents a month. Assume 8,000 input tokens and 1,000 output tokens per document. That is $0.016 in plus $0.01 out, about 2.6 cents a document, or roughly $52 a month.

Who should care: firms and shops already doing document extraction, proposal drafting or contract review with an AI tool. Who can ignore it: anyone not using AI in daily work yet. The coding and science demos in the announcement are not aimed at you. Google calls the price introductory and gives no end date, so budget for it to rise.

What to do
Try it

If anyone on your team already pays for Google AI Pro or Ultra, spend one hour this month running a real recurring task, such as a proposal draft or a statement extraction, through Argon alongside your current tool, and do not buy new seats until you have compared the results.

What it costs
What it costs
Gemini app access for existing Google AI Pro or Ultra subscribers
$0 extra
API document extraction, 2,000 docs/mo at assumed 8,000 input + 1,000 output tokens
≈ $52/mo ($624/yr) at introductory price
Same volume with repeated instructions cached (95% off cached input)
less than $52/mo; savings depend on setup
Side-by-side test, 1 person × 1 hr at $50/hr
≈ $50
New Google AI Pro seats
not priced in Google's post; check Google's plans page before buying
Doing nothing
$0; current tools keep working, and the introductory API price has no stated end date
Sources
blog.google (primary) · Google AI Studio pricing · Google AI plans (Pro and Ultra) · Vals Index benchmark

Questions owners ask

Do we get Gemini 4 Argon through our Google Workspace plan?

Google's announcement names Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers and API customers. It does not mention Workspace business plans, so check your admin console or ask your Google reseller before assuming access.

Is the API price permanent?

No. Google calls $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens an introductory price and does not give an end date in the post.

Should we switch from ChatGPT or Claude?

Not on the strength of the announcement alone. The benchmark claims come from Google. Test Argon on one of your own recurring tasks and compare the output and the cost before moving anything.

Three to five of these, every weekday morning.

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