Google's new AI image model is called Nano Banana 2 Lite

Google shipped Nano Banana 2 Lite, the fastest and cheapest model in its Nano Banana image lineup — and yes, that's the real name a serious research team went with.

The pitch is throughput, not artistry. It generates images in roughly 4 seconds at about $0.034 per 1,000 images, aimed squarely at high-velocity developer pipelines: bulk marketing assets, product listings, rapid A/B variations, and automated workflows where image gen is just one step. It's live in Google AI Studio, the Gemini API, and consumer surfaces like AI Mode in Search and the Gemini app. It also replaces the original Nano Banana, which is now legacy.

The fruit-smoothie naming has predictably become the story, trending every time fresh benchmarks drop — but the economics are the actual signal. At three cents per thousand images, Google is treating image generation as a commodity utility, not a premium showpiece.

Why it matters: when AI image gen costs pennies per thousand, the bottleneck shifts from generating visuals to deciding which ones are worth using.