Technologies

Nano Banana Pro Is Here: All the Changes in Google’s Popular AI Image Tool

You can dial your AI images up to 4K, thanks to Gemini 3. Less good is the ability to remove the AI watermarks.

The newest version of Google’s AI image model is here, thanks to Gemini 3. Whether you choose to call it by its official name (Gemini 3 Pro Image) or its better-known nickname (nano banana pro), this model uses Gemini’s «deep thinking» feature to create better content.

Nano banana pro promises to be more capable, specifically with generating legible text, using up to 14 reference images and creating images in resolutions up to 4K.

Nano banana pro is available now, rolling out globally in the Gemini app. In Gemini, select «Create images» (with a 🍌 emoji) and switch your model to the Thinking model (located on the right side of the prompt window).

You can use nano banana pro for free, but you will hit a generation limit faster than paying Google AI subscribers. Those plans start at $20 per month. You’ll be automatically switched back to the original model once you’ve used up your credits. The model is also available in the Gemini API, Google AI Studio and Flow.

Inside the new nano banana model

AI image generators have notoriously struggled to create clear text; mangled words have been clear signs that an image was created with AI. OpenAI’s GPT-Image-1 was one of the first models to make significant progress in fixing this, but CNET’s testing showed it wasn’t able to reliably create readable text.

Google says nano banana pro is supposed to be better at this — so good that you can use the new model to create infographics, relying on Gemini’s integration with Google Search (and Search’s AI Mode for paying Pro users) to aid the process.

You might’ve noticed that none of the images made with nano banana pro have Google’s diamond-shaped watermark, which usually denotes that it was made with AI. That’s because Google is introducing a new way for its highest-paying subscribers (those paying $250 per month for the Ultra plan) to remove those watermarks. Even though it’s restricted to that top-tier plan, it’s already extremely difficult to tell if something was created with AI. Fewer watermarks won’t help. Google says Gemini will be able to identify any images made with its AI because of its SynthID, an invisible watermark attached to its AI-generated content. So in theory, you can upload an image to Gemini and ask whether it’s real or made with Google’s AI. We’ll have to wait and see how well it actually works.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

The original nano banana model, Gemini 2.5 Flash Image, was released this summer. Early testers thought the capabilities were, well, bananas. Throw in a series of fruit-themed teasers from Google executives, and the model quickly became best known by its nickname, nano banana. Its popularity soared in the following days.

One of the things fans liked about the original nano banana was how well it maintained character consistency. Meaning nano banana was able to edit your existing photos without distorting the characters or people in them. CNET’s hands-on testing found this was true, but there were still obvious AI slip-ups. The new model might eliminate some of those errors.

It’s been a big week for Google as it dropped a major update to its AI system, Gemini 3. The new models are rolling out now, aiming to give Gemini users a smarter, less sycophantic experience.

For more, check out how to write the best AI image prompt and the best AI image generators.

Technologies

Your Next Vacation Starts in a Chat: TripAdvisor Debuts App Inside ChatGPT

You can tap AI and TripAdvisor for your travel planning.

You may already use artificial intelligence for planning vacations, but now you can use a new TripAdvisor app inside of ChatGPT to book hotels. The app puts TripAdvisor’s reviews and hotel insights directly into ChatGPT. It’s «a new AI-powered way to experience the best of TripAdvisor,» according to the travel company.

(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

Using the app, trip planners can see top-rated TripAdvisor hotels on an interactive map. They can also read TripAdvisor review summaries, access details about hotels, including images and amenities, and refine results with conversational follow-ups.

Once a would-be traveler selects a hotel, they’ll see available deals from booking sites. When they choose one, they will be redirected to TripAdvisor or one of its partners to complete the booking.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

The new app is available to logged-in ChatGPT users in the US on Free, Go, Plus and Pro plans. You can start using it by opening ChatGPT, navigating to Settings, then Apps & Connectors, and Browse Apps and connect to TripAdvisor. (You should only have to follow these steps once.) Then, and on subsequent visits, simply start your message in ChatGPT with the word TripAdvisor.

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Technologies

Group Chats With ChatGPT Are Rolling Out Globally

OpenAI wants you to collaborate with its chatbot in a group setting.

Last week, OpenAI — always looking for opportunities to put its chatbot into new spaces — introduced Group Chats with ChatGPT baked right in. Based on early feedback, it’s now expanding the feature to all logged-in users on ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus and Pro plans globally over the coming days.

The feature is pitched as a new way to use ChatGPT with other people, especially in collaboration efforts, like planning a big event.

Up to 20 people can be added to a group chat, and messages between individuals don’t count against the rate limit to ChatGPT — only when it responds.

(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

Group chats use ChatGPT-5.1 Auto. OpenAI has also introduced some new implementations of how and when the chatbot responds. It’s been taught new social behaviors for group chats and will apparently follow the flow of the conversation and stay quiet or chime in based on what’s being said.

Adding «ChatGPT» to a message you send will always yield a response from the AI chatbot. You can also provide custom instructions to ChatGPT for the entire chat if you want it to reply in a certain tone or personality, and it can react to messages with emoji.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Group Chats don’t use memory from your existing personal chats, and new memory isn’t created from group conversations, though OpenAI says it’s exploring a way for you to opt in to use existing memory in the future.

If you’re concerned that you’ll be thrown into a dozen chats without your permission, then you’ll likely be happy to hear that you must accept an invitation before you can be added to a group chat with ChatGPT. Additional safeguards are also in place for users under the age of 18, which will reduce sensitive content to all within the group chat.

OpenAI says Group Chats are the beginning of its effort to make ChatGPT more of a shared and collaborative space for people.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Nov. 21, #424

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Nov. 21, No. 424.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a fun one. If you know a Gen Z person, you might be familiar with their favorite nonsense phrase, «6-7.» The puzzle editors throw a 6 and a 7 into the puzzle today just to see if we’re paying attention. Do the numbers end up in the same group? I bet you know the answer to that one. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Splish-splash.

Green group hint: Football score.

Blue group hint: Colorado QB.

Purple group hint: Not small.