Access to Nano Banana Pro, Google’s viral AI image maker, is shrinking as the company tries to meet exploding demand.
Google last week launched Gemini 3 Pro, giving users up to five prompts and three photos per day for free with the included Nano Banana Pro image creator. This limit is equivalent to what free users get with the previous Gemini 2.5 Pro model.
However, Google is changing the limit for Gemini 3 Pro. The company’s support documents state free users will receive “basic access” and “daily limits that may change frequently.” Creating and editing photos with Nano Banana Pro is reduced from three to two photos per day.
For Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers, the limits remain unchanged, at 100 and 500 commands per day, respectively.
Image: Google Gemini
OpenAI, Google’s generative AI competitor, also limits free Sora users to 6 AI video creation commands per day. “Our GPUs are melting, and we want to support as many Sora users as possible,” Bill Peebles, head of the Sora team, wrote on X on November 28.
“Melting GPU” refers to the massive computing demands of Sora videos. Creating images and videos consumes more energy than text, so limiting the number of free videos will give OpenAI’s servers time to “cool down”. Meanwhile, the limit for ChatGPT Plus and Pro users remains the same.
TechRadar reviews, the fact that Google and OpenAI are both tightening free usage rights may be coincidental, but could also be a sign that the AI industry is struggling with the huge computing costs of feedback, photos and videos. Next year, users will likely see additional small moves to push them to switch to paid plans.