[Google Gemini 3.8 Flash to Launch as Early as Wednesday Local Time, Internal Codename 'Skimaki'] According to a report from IT Home citing The Wall Street Journal, Google is set to release the next-generation programming model Gemini 3.8 Flash, internally codenamed 'Skimaki,' which could go live as early as Wednesday local time. Internal testing indicates that this model significantly narrows the gap in programming capabilities between Google and competitors Anthropic and OpenAI. Gemini 3.8 Flash is part of the smaller, faster, and more cost-effective Flash series, and its release coincides with a major personnel shift at Google DeepMind—Koray Kavukcuoglu has been promoted to Senior Vice President of DeepMind, taking over full operational responsibilities. Previously, Google faced setbacks in model development, with several prominent researchers departing this summer. The release of the flagship Pro series' new model has been delayed by several months, and the next-generation flagship Gemini 4 is still in the post-training phase.