Technologies

Who the Heck Is Gonna Pay $250 for Google AI Ultra?

Google’s pricey new AI subscription seems to be aimed at people who want to generate a ton of video or code.

Want Google’s biggest and best AI features? A new plan has them all, but with a steep price tag.

Read more: Everything We Learned at Google I/O. AI Mode in Chrome, Gemini Live, XR Glasses and Much More

Google rolled out AI Ultra Tuesday at its annual I/O developers conference, and the new top-tier model features the best models of its Gemini tool, early access to new video generation models, the highest usage limits in tools like NotebookLM, a prototype for managing AI agents and, as icing on the cake, a whopping 30 terabytes of storage.

For all of that, you’ll pay a pretty penny. Google AI Ultra costs $250 a month (although the company is offering half off the first three months). Not ready to drop $3,000 a year on AI? Google is rebranding its existing AI Premium plan as Google AI Pro, which also offers new features. It stays at a modest $20 per year.

The difference between the two plans centers mainly on the usage limits for AI tools and access to bleeding-edge technology. Google AI Ultra has much higher limits, meaning if you’re making a ton of videos or using Gemini a ton, you might need the pricier option. «It’s for the trailblazers, the pioneers, those of you who want cutting-edge AI from Google,» Josh Woodward, the company’s vice president for Google Labs and Gemini, said during Tuesday’s announcement.

Here’s what’s included in the new Google AI plans.

What’s in the Google AI Ultra plan?

The biggest component of Google AI Ultra is a maxed-out version of the company’s Gemini app. It has the highest usage limits for the Deep Research function, along with the Veo 2 video generation model and early access to Veo 3. The subscription also includes the company’s newest reasoning model, Deep Think in Gemini 2.5 pro. You’ll also get immediate early access to Gemini in Chrome, which allows you to use Gemini to understand information based on the context of the current page you’re on.

AI Ultra features access to Flow, Google’s new AI filmmaking tool that also debuted at I/O. This tool allows you to create clips, scenes and movies with text and image prompts. AI Ultra gets you the highest limits for Flow. (The AI Pro plan also includes access to Flow, just with a limit of 100 generations per month.) It also includes the highest limits for Whisk, an AI image generator that allows you to turn photos into mashups, including Whisk Animate, which creates vivid eight-second videos.

Other features included in AI Ultra aren’t necessarily AI-specific: You’ll get access to YouTube Premium, including YouTube Music ad-free. It also includes 30TB worth of cloud storage. It’s only available in the US for now.

While AI Ultra’s $250 monthly price tag is high, compare it to the top-tier subscription plans from competing AI companies. OpenAI’s Pro plan gives you the best of ChatGPT for $200 per month. Anthropic’s Max plan starts at $100 per month for top Claude features.

What’s in Google AI Pro?

The company’s current AI Premium plan is being renamed AI Pro. The price remains $20 per month, but the new features include Flow’s filmmaking capabilities and early access to Gemini in Chrome. These additions are also coming to the US first.

Google said it is also expanding free access to AI Pro for university students in Japan, Brazil, Indonesia and the United Kingdom. It’s already available free for students in the US.

Who is Google AI Ultra for?

You don’t need to drop $250 a month on AI if you’re just dabbling around with chatbots or making an image or two occasionally. Google’s AI Pro plan likely has everything you’ll need at a much better price.

What about the bundlers who want a lot of storage space? The non-AI features of AI Ultra are pretty cool, but are they worth $250 a month? First there’s YouTube Premium, which only costs $14 a month on its own. You can pair that with Google AI pro for just $34 a month. (And if you want to use a different AI service, even a top-level plan from OpenAI or Anthropic would keep your total below $250.) As for the 30TB of storage, that’s harder to replace. Apple’s iCloud offers 12TB for $60 a month while Dropbox offers 15TB starting at $24 per month.

The distinction really is the usage limits and the cutting-edge features. Google representatives told me that AI Ultra is best for people like filmmakers, developers and creatives who are going to generate a lot of content using AI. If you want to use generative AI to produce a lot of video content or longform video content, you’ll need the highest usage limits you can get. And with all of those files, you might actually need that 30TB of storage.

Even if you’re not using AI to produce a ton of content, you may be interested in AI Ultra if you absolutely must have access to the new features as soon as they roll out. AI Ultra will get early access to things like Google’s Project Mariner agentic research tool and the new Deep Think feature in Gemini.

But if the price tag for the biggest and best subscription plan is giving you sticker shock, don’t worry. AI Pro still comes with plenty of features.

Technologies

Apple Launches Creator Studio Package as $13 a Month Subscription

Mac users can still buy the apps individually, but subscribers get access to Final Cut Pro and other Studio tools.

Apple is bundling its pro filmmaking and audio tools including Final Cut Pro with its productivity apps Keynote, Pages and Numbers into a subscription software suite called Apple Creator Studio.

The package, which includes apps for Mac, iPad and iPhone, includes Logic Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Motion, Compressor, MainStage and the whiteboard app Freeform. Creator Studio will be available starting Jan. 28 at a cost of $13 per month or $129 per year, or $3 per month or $30 per year for students and educators. Mac users will still have the option to purchase software like Final Cut Pro for a one-time free. The current price for Final Cut Pro in the Mac App Store is $300.

While apps such as Keynote and Pages are already free on Apple platforms, it appears that new versions of those apps will receive access to beta features that will roll out first to Creator Studio subscribers. The announcement by Apple alludes to «new AI features and premium content» in some of the apps it otherwise makes available to use for free.

What the Creator Studio bundle comes with

The star of the show in Creator Studio is Final Cut Pro, the video editing software that will now include Transcript Search on both Mac and iPad. There is also a new Beat Detection feature Apple says uses an AI model to analyze a music track and display a beat grid, making it easier to cut video to music rhythms. The software also will include a new Montage Maker on iPad for quick social video creation.

Motion, the 2D and 3D graphics tool, and Compressor also integrate with Final Cut Pro. Apple touted Motion’s Magnetic Mask feature for isolating objects or people without the need for a green screen.

Logic Pro has new features for musicians, including a Synth Player addition to AI Session Players. Chord ID, a new AI feature, can create chord progressions from audio or MIDI recordings. A new Sound Library will have hundreds of royalty-free clips, samples and loops.

A revamped MainStage app gives subscribers access to instrument, voice-professing and guitar rig tools. Pixelmator Pro arrives with new tools and filters, and there will be an iPad version in addition to the Mac tool.

Freeform in the Creator Studio package will add premium content, including curated photos, graphics and illustrations. It will also get new AI features that include image creation.

Technologies

Reddit Outage Resolved: Here’s What Happened

Did you have trouble reading your favorite subreddits today? You weren’t alone.

If you had trouble accessing the news and discussion forum Reddit on Tuesday, you weren’t the only one. However, as of 10:15 a.m. PT, the site appears to be back up and running normally. Reddit’s status monitoring page, RedditStatus.com, notes that «all systems (are) operational» after the brief outage.

But earlier, at 9:30 a.m. PT, RedditStatus.com said the company was «investigating elevated errors across reddit.com and native apps.» RedditStatus.com reported degraded site performance for both desktop web use and native mobile apps.

Earlier on Tuesday, the site-monitoring service DownDetector also reported issues at Reddit, providing additional details. At one point on Tuesday, DownDetector received over 100,000 reports that the site was having problems. At 10:25 am PT, the report numbers fell to under 600. (Disclosure: Downdetector is owned by the same parent company as CNET, Ziff Davis.)

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«Reddit is currently experiencing a significant internal outage causing widespread service disruptions,» the site said earlier Tuesday. «The impact is categorized as Very High, primarily affecting mobile app access (55%) and website connectivity (39%). While reports are heavily concentrated in major hubs like New York City and Chicago, the lack of ISP correlation suggests a broad, nationwide issue stemming from Reddit’s internal servers rather than external network providers.»

A representative for Reddit did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Another social media site, X, formerly Twitter, also showed problems on Tuesday, according to DownDetector. Those problems seemed to spike around 6:30 a.m. PT and improve after.

Technologies

This 3-in-1 Charger Is a Must-Have for Travelers, and It Just Hit a Record-Low of $95

Snag it for $45 off and charge your iPhone, AirPods and Apple Watch at the same time.

If you’re a frequent traveler, then you know that outlets are a precious commodity in places like airports and coffee shops. So why waste one on a single device when you can charge up to three at once? Right now, you can grab this seriously sleek Ugreen Magflow three-in-one foldable charger for just $95 at Amazon. That’s a $45 discount and the all-time lowest price we’ve seen. Just don’t wait too long, as this deal could expire at any time.

At just 7.4 ounces, this compact charging station is designed to be taken on the go. But despite its size, it still supports 25-watt MagSafe charging for iPhones, as well as 5-watt wireless charging for AirPods and Apple Watches. The charging stand also tilts up to double as a stand, and it’s equipped with 16 magnets to keep your phone aligned and securely in place. Plus, it’s got built-in protections against overheating, overcharging, short-circuiting and more to prevent damage to your devices.

Why this deal matters

This folding Ugreen charger is great for juicing up your devices on the go, and it’s never been more affordable. Plus, Ugreen makes some of the best MagSafe chargers on the market right now, so don’t miss your chance to grab one at a record-low price.