Gemini 3 is almost as good as Google says it is

Google set the bar high for Gemini 3. It’s promising a bunch of upgraded features in its shiny new AI model, from generating code that produces interactive 3D visualizations to “agentic” capabilities that complete tasks. But as we’ve seen in the past, what’s advertised doesn’t always match up to reality. So we put some of Google’s claims to the test and found that Gemini 3 delivers reasonably well — with caveats.

Google announced the Gemini 3 family of models earlier this week, with the flagship Gemini 3 Pro rolling out to users first. Gemini 3 Pro is supposed to come with big upgrades to reasoning, along with the ability to provide more concise and direct responses compared to Google’s previous models.

Some of the biggest promised improvements are to Canvas, the built-in workspace inside the Gemini app, where you can ask the AI chatbot to generate code, as well as preview the output. When building in Canvas, Google says Gemini 3 can interpret material from…