Bright
← The Open Model Atlas

Google DeepMind / FAMILY RECORD

Gemma 4

Google’s Gemma 4 generation spans edge and workstation sizes; this atlas record uses the 26B mixture-of-experts checkpoint as its reference point.

Checked release: Gemma 4 26B-A4B
Sources checked 2026-09-19

Initial Gemma 4 model release
· Primary source
Google Gemma 4 announcement
· Primary source

The 26B-A4B reference checkpoint was in the initial March 31 release; later Gemma 4 updates are separate events.

The profile describes this checkpoint, not every release carrying the family name. Developer documentation is not independent reproduction.

THE MODEL / THE TERMS

Know what you are picking up.

Parameters
26B total / 4B active (reference checkpoint)
Architecture
Hybrid local/global-attention multimodal transformer; the 26B reference variant uses mixture-of-experts routing.
Modalities
text · image
Context
Up to 256K tokens on the 26B reference variant
Weights license
Apache-2.0
Commercial use
Permitted by Apache-2.0.
Memory
Google documents a 12B variant running in 16 GB; requirements for the 26B-A4B variant depend on format and context.
Known quantizations
Official quantization-aware-trained checkpoints

Specifications are developer-reported. Primary release documentation ↗ · All sources and terms

NINE DIMENSIONS / NO OPENNESS SCORE

What is actually available?

Each component has its own evidence. “Not established” means this source review did not verify availability; it is not a claim that nothing exists.

WHY THIS RELEASE MATTERS

What to explore.

  • Reasoning and tool use
  • Vision input
  • Wide size range
  • Official QAT checkpoints

WHAT THE RECORD DOES NOT ESTABLISH

Keep the limits.

  • Audio is limited to the E2B, E4B, and 12B variants
  • Training data is described but not released

Arena placement cited by Google is a third-party leaderboard result, but this record does not independently reproduce it.

Explore the memory tradeoffs

CONNECTED EVIDENCE

A release becomes a starting point.

Thematic or family connections, not proof that an older application uses the selected checkpoint.

FOLLOW THE RECORD

Sources, not superlatives.

  1. Gemma release log (institution)
  2. Gemma 4: Byte for byte, the most capable open models (institution)
  3. Gemma 4 model card (report)

Source check: 2026-09-19. AI-assisted editorial review, with no named external expert or independent hardware validation claimed. Licenses and model cards can change. Review the linked terms for the specific artifact and intended use.

Understand open source vs open weights ↗