Google Rolls Out Nano Banana AI for Seamless Image Creation in Search and NotebookLM

Google just deployed its Gemini 2.5 “Nano Banana” model to Google Search and NotebookLM. Integration with Google Photos is expected soon.

Gemini Nano Banana is an image editing model that allows users to change an image in several ways, all based on a text prompt, including removing elements, adding items, changing clothing, merging multiple images, and more. According to Google, the model is specifically designed for “high-fidelity photo edits with precise, controllable, and consistent manipulation capabilities.”

So far, Nano Banana, which is officially called Gemini 2.5 Flash Image, had been primarily available through Google’s Gemini app, where it’s already been used to generate over 5 billion images.

But by adding the tool to Google Search and NotebookLM (Google’s AI-powered note-taking research tool), the company is aiming to make image editing and visual creativity more native to everyday tools.

What is Nano Banana?

Nano Banana, as noted, is an AI image editing model. A key capability is what Google calls “fine-grained photo editing with text”. The model allows users to perform granular edits to an image (via a text prompt), but is specifically designed to keep the identity and consistency of a subject when an image is being modified in various ways.

Users can remove and add elements, change clothing, merge multiple images, and restyle images. The resulting edits from the AI come with remarkably few artifacts and a loss of realism. Some other key features highlighted by Google:

Multi-image fusion: Combine elements or styles from multiple images

Consistent subject rendering: Render the same person or object across edits consistently recognizable

World knowledge aware: Enhanced understanding of the context of the image

Watermarking and Attribution Control: Model output comes with a watermark, plus an invisible SynthID signature to help detect AI-generated content.

In sum, Nano Banana has been called “instant Photoshop”. Not that it replaces powerful visual editing tools like Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. But it does bring photo-grade editing tools to a native platform for casual users, with next to no barrier to entry.

Nano Banana in Google Search and NotebookLM

As Google itself puts it, the introduction of Gemini Nano Banana to Google Search and NotebookLM allows the company to “accelerate access to the model’s powerful new capabilities”.

While NotebookLM is new for users, this integration is significant, as it brings visual editing to an existing, popular platform. Google Search is the world’s most widely used search engine, which means even more people can access the image editing model easily.

Users can either take a photo with Google Lens (or select an image from their library) in Search and then tap the new “Create” mode to generate AI-based photo transformations.

NotebookLM is Google’s AI-powered research note tool, which already includes features like smart summaries, contextually aware search, and suggestions, in addition to text input. The addition of visual image editing here gives users more flexibility to create and iterate on ideas in both text and image modes, moving fluidly between the two. Google explains, “bringing Nano Banana to Search and NotebookLM … helps more people access these advanced capabilities in products where they’re already exploring, learning and creating with visuals.”

Google Photos will be the next target for the Gemini Nano Banana model.

Nano Banana Potential Issues

In addition to new capabilities, there are also legitimate concerns with putting a tool like Nano Banana into the hands of billions of users. The ability to easily generate photo-realistic edits is fraught with the potential for misuse.

Deepfakes, misinformation, abuse, and non-consensual content are among the most-discussed use cases and potential negative consequences. Google has put some safeguards in place, like watermarking, usage policy banning non-consensual intimate media, and moderation and misuse mitigation.

However, as critics have noted, some features are missing. For example, there is no native cropping tool. Sometimes, the model reverts changes made if it gets conflicting prompts in an edit sequence. (PC Gamer)

There’s also a very real risk that casual users will not take note of visible watermarks, or even look at them at all. It will be difficult for casual users to identify AI-generated content with the tool.

On the tech side, it’s a massive undertaking to scale GPU/TPU infrastructure to support promptable, high-throughput AI image editing at this scale. Reports indicate Google’s own infrastructure is already being strained by the model.

What Nano Banana Means for Generative AI

Nano Banana is just the latest in a series of Gemini upgrades rolling out from Google over the past several months. The move to integrate the tool into more aspects of the Google ecosystem also reflects the greater trends for AI.

AI image editing, in other words, is not a one-off feature or a novelty use case. It’s becoming a core part of visual communication and creation workflows. It’s reasonable to expect it will change how creators, marketers, educators, hobbyists, and just about anyone else who uses images thinks about photo editing and design work.

For Google, this means they are getting further into the generative AI space. This is likely good for the average consumer, as more competition in the AI and generative art space will lead to more tools, features, and choices. And users will have the opportunity to choose the tools that best suit their needs.

For Google, their competitors are OpenAI, Midjourney, Stability AI, Meta, Microsoft, and others.

On the flip side, users get the benefit of having powerful visual editing tools in search, note taking, and other common productivity workflows. Imagine drafting an article in NotebookLM and then being able to generate cover images to match, or sketching a rough scene in your notes and having Google instantly generate matching visuals. Or running search and then using “Create” to generate visuals directly in Search.

Ideas to visualizations to edits to polished, shareable media could be a few taps away.

Of course, that remains to be seen. Whether or not Nano Banana becomes an essential tool for millions of users won’t be decided by its initial rollout but by how well it handles ethical guardrails, the ability to scale infrastructure, and user experience. The next several months will be telling.

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