jeffmcjunkin6d ago

Google releases Gemma 4 open models

https://deepmind.google/models/gemma/gemma-4/

Gemma 4

Gemma 4 is a family of open models, purpose-built for advanced reasoning and agentic workflows.

Google DeepMind
Show threadsimonw

I ran these in LM Studio and got unrecognizable pelicans out of the 2B and 4B models and an outstanding pelican out of the 26b-a4b model - I think the best I've seen from a model that runs on my laptop.

https://simonwillison.net/2026/Apr/2/gemma-4/

The gemma-4-31b model is completely broken for me - it just spits out "---\n" no matter what prompt I feed it. I got a pelican out of it via the AI Studio API hosted model instead.

Gemma 4: Byte for byte, the most capable open models

Four new vision-capable Apache 2.0 licensed reasoning LLMs from Google DeepMind, sized at 2B, 4B, 31B, plus a 26B-A4B Mixture-of-Experts. Google emphasize "unprecedented level of intelligence-per-parameter", providing yet more evidence …

Simon Willison’s Weblog
Apr 2 at 5:26pmWeb
Show threadwordpad6d ago
Do you think it's just part of their training set now?
Show threadsimonw6d ago
If it's part of their training set why do the 2B and 4B models produce such terrible SVGs?
Show threadvessenes6d ago
We were promised full SVG zoos, Simon. I want to see SVG pangolins please
Show threadalexeiz6d ago
It's time to do "frog on a skateboard" now.
Show threadlysace6d ago

Seems very likely, even if Google has behaved ethically, right?

Simon and YC/HN has published/boosted these gradual improvements and evaluations for quite some time now.

Show threadentropicdrifter6d ago
Your posting of the pelican benchmark is honestly the biggest reason I check the HackerNews comments on big new model announcements
Show threadjckahn6d ago
All hail the pelican king!
Show threadnateb20226d ago
I'd recommend using the instruction tuned variants, the pelicans would probably look a lot better.
Show threadhypercube336d ago
Mind I ask what your laptop is and configuration hardware wise?
Show threadculi6d ago

Do you have a single gallery page where we can see all the pelicans together. I'm thinking something similar to

https://clocks.brianmoore.com/

but static.

AI World Clocks

The current time as rendered by 9 different AI models. By Brian Moore.

Show threadlostmsu6d ago
Not exactly what you asked for but try https://pelicans.borg.games/
Pelican Arena Leaderboard - AI SVG Pelican Competition

Vote on AI-generated pelican images from models like Claude, GPT-4, Gemini, Qwen, GLM, and more. See which AI creates the best pelican riding a bicycle artwork.

Show threadbaal80spam6d ago
Uh, the GPT-5 clock is... interesting, to say the least.