What changed: Google made Gemini Nano Banana 2.1 (gemini-nano-banana-2.1) generally available, an update to Nano Banana 2 (gemini-3.1-flash-image) that keeps Flash-level speed and cost efficiency while improving visual quality, prompt adherence, multi-turn character consistency, text rendering, and wide/panoramic aspect ratios (1:4, 4:1, 1:8, 8:1) at 1K, 2K, and 4K resolutions. The gemini-3.1-flash-image model is now deprecated, with no shutdown date announced, and developers are told to migrate to gemini-nano-banana-2.1.
Who is affected
The source points to developers and businesses using Gemini API image generation models, particularly those still on gemini-3.1-flash-image; no broader scope is specified.
What it means for your business
For businesses using the Gemini API, this means migrating from gemini-3.1-flash-image to gemini-nano-banana-2.1, which supports wide and panoramic aspect ratios (1:4, 4:1, 1:8, 8:1) at 1K, 2K, and 4K resolutions.
What to do
If you use gemini-3.1-flash-image, migrate your image generation integration to gemini-nano-banana-2.1 and test it using the Image generation guide.
When it takes effect
Gemini Nano Banana 2.1 became generally available on October 6, 2026; no shutdown date has been announced for gemini-3.1-flash-image.
Source: https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/changelog?hl=en#10-06-2026
