Google's new Nano Banana 2 Lite image model is its fastest and cheapest yet

There are plenty of AI image-generation models these days, but the ones capable of quality outputs tend to be slow and expensive. Google DeepMind says its new image model, known as Nano Banana 2 Lite, offers the best balance of quality and speed. It’s available today across the Google ecosystem, creating images in a fraction of the time it takes Google’s beefier models. The new model is part of the Gemini 3.1 family—it’s technically called Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image. On one hand, Google says this model is ideal for exploring ideas and “rapid-fire” prototyping, applications in which quality can take a backseat. However, the company has also provided some examples aimed at showing how close Nano Banana 2 Lite can get to the quality of its other image models.