[epistasis]

For those that want to give it a shot, there's a two month free trial here:

https://gemini.google.com/advanced

It was not so easy to even find out how to buy Gemini Ultra, apparently it's called "Gemini Advanced," or maybe it's called "Google One AI Premium Plan." Searching for "Gemini Ultra" doesn't give you a link to any this on any of the top page of hits on a Google Web Search, and you have to dig deep in announcements to find it.

I've been very dissatisfied with all the free Google options, but this post has given me the kick to see if the bigger models can compete.

[kelvie]

I think if you already are paying for google drive / gmail / google photos storage < 2TB this also means they'll comp you 2 months of that, since this includes it, so in essence, signing up for this trial will save you money.

I'll find out next billing cycle, but it'd be pretty misleading otherwise, and they'd obviously be incentivized to hook you in with the dark pattern of "auto renewing free trial subscription"

[epistasis]

My first question: "How do I get an API key to use gemini ultra 1.0?"

Response was that you have to request access, either through 1) your account representative, or 2) "Apply through Google: If you don't have an account representative, you may be able to apply for access through Google's channels (a specific form or process might be available)"

I don't have an account representative, of course (who does?!)

But the really interesting thing is that there was an additional annotation added to option 2, about the other channels, that said "Google Search didn’t find relevant content. Consider researching further to assess the statement." which sounds about right.

So, the model itself seems OK, if Google can figure out how to get out of its own way.