Sundar Pichai’s 3 Bananas Go Viral – Here’s the Story Behind It
Sundar Pichai’s 3 Bananas Go Viral – Here’s the Story Behind It
Google has introduced a new AI-powered photo editing feature inside the Gemini app. The tool, officially named Gemini 2.5 Flash Image and codenamed “Nano Banana,” is designed to make photo edits look more natural while keeping people, pets, and objects consistent across different scenarios.
Marking the launch, Google CEO Sundar Pichai teased the rollout on X (formerly Twitter) with three banana emojis, a playful nod to the tool’s internal codename.
To demonstrate the feature, Pichai shared a set of AI-generated photos of his dog Jeffree on International Dog Day. The images showed Jeffree transformed into a surfer, a cowboy, a superhero, and even a chef.
“Our image editing model is now rolling out in @Geminiapp—and yes, it’s 
. At the top of @lmarena’s image edit leaderboard, it’s especially good at maintaining likeness across different contexts. Check out a few of my dog Jeffree in honor of International Dog Day—though don’t let these fool you, he definitely prefers the couch,” Pichai wrote.
How the Nano Banana feature works
According to Google’s official blog, users can upload a photo, describe the changes they want, and Gemini will generate a new version while preserving the original likeness. The tool can make a variety of edits, including
- Changing costumes and backgrounds, such as placing a person in different outfits or eras.
- Blending photos, like combining a person and their pet into the same frame.
- Making step-by-step edits, such as adding or removing objects in a picture.
- Mixing designs, where patterns or textures from one photo can be applied to another.
The model is trained to maintain the “likeness” of people or pets, ensuring the subject still looks the same across all generated edits.
Transparency and safeguards
Google has added safeguards to make sure AI-generated content is easily identified. Every photo edited through the feature will carry a visible watermark as well as an invisible SynthID digital marker, which confirms that the image was made or altered using AI.
The company said these steps are important to maintain trust as AI-generated visuals become more common.
Available now in the Gemini app
The Nano Banana feature is being rolled out starting today within the Gemini app. With this launch, Google aims to bring easy and creative photo editing tools to everyday users while also keeping transparency in check.
