Google has not officially released Veo 4. The latest official video model is Veo 3.1, and the most recent expansion is Veo 3.1 Lite (April 2026 model card).
But the timing is interesting. Google I/O 2026 starts May 19 — the day after I'm writing this. The historical Veo cadence (May 2024 → Late 2024 → 2025 → Late 2025/Early 2026) makes Veo 4 the obvious flagship video model to watch. If you're building agent or content pipelines, this is the week to have your migration checklist ready.
Sharing what I found while preparing for it.
TL;DR
- Veo 4: not announced as of May 18, 2026
- Veo 3.1: the official latest flagship
- Veo 3.1 Lite: April 2026 lower-cost variant
- Google I/O 2026: May 19-20 — best probability window for a Veo 4 reveal (~70% in my read)
- Veo 3.1 standard price: $0.40/sec at 720p/1080p
What's officially live right now
Google's DeepMind Veo page lists Veo 3.1 as the state-of-the-art model. The Gemini API video docs confirm:
- Text to video ✅
- Image to video ✅
- Native audio ✅
- First + last frame generation ✅
- Video extension (preview) ✅
- Reference images ✅
- 4K output (priced) ✅
There is no Veo 4 model card, no Vertex AI Veo 4 model ID, no Gemini API pricing entry for Veo 4 anywhere on Google domains as of this writing.
The release window math
| Model | Public Timing |
|---|---|
| Veo | May 2024 |
| Veo 2 | Late 2024 |
| Veo 3 | 2025 |
| Veo 3.1 | Late 2025 / early 2026 |
| Veo 3.1 Lite | April 2026 |
| Veo 4 | ? |
My probability estimate:
| Window | Probability |
|---|---|
| Google I/O 2026 keynote (May 19-20) | 70% |
| June-July 2026 | 20% |
| Later 2026 | 10% |
Not a confirmed date. Just a read of Google's release cadence and how I/O has been used for prior Veo announcements.
Current Veo 3.1 API pricing — the baseline Veo 4 has to beat
Per Gemini API pricing:
| Model | 720p | 1080p | 4K |
|---|---|---|---|
| Veo 3.1 Standard | $0.40/sec | $0.40/sec | $0.60/sec |
| Veo 3.1 Fast | $0.10/sec | $0.12/sec | $0.30/sec |
| Veo 3.1 Lite | $0.05/sec | $0.08/sec | N/A |
For an 8-second clip:
| Model | 8s 720p | 8s 1080p | 8s 4K |
|---|---|---|---|
| Veo 3.1 Standard | $3.20 | $3.20 | $4.80 |
| Veo 3.1 Fast | $0.80 | $0.96 | $2.40 |
| Veo 3.1 Lite | $0.40 | $0.64 | N/A |
At 1,000 × 8s 720p clips per month, that's $400 (Lite) → $3,200 (Standard). The unit cost matters at production scale.
What Veo 4 would actually need to ship
Not "prettier output." Controllability.
| Area | Veo 3.1 today | What Veo 4 needs |
|---|---|---|
| Clip length | 4-8s | Longer coherent shots |
| Audio | Native | Better dialogue timing |
| Character consistency | Improved, workflow-dependent | Multi-shot identity retention |
| Scene control | First/last frame, refs, object insert | Granular camera/motion control |
| Physics | Strong internal benchmarks | Fewer continuity errors |
| Editing | Flow workflows | True inpainting / selective rerender |
| API | Preview model IDs | Stable IDs, batch economics |
Production teams need to revise one object, keep a face consistent across shots, or extend a scene without restarting. That's the workflow jump that actually matters.
Three real routes to use Veo today
1. Gemini App / Flow (creators, non-technical)
2. Gemini API (developer)
veo-3.1-generate-preview
veo-3.1-fast-generate-preview
veo-3.1-lite-generate-preview
3. Vertex AI (enterprise, governance)
veo-2.0-generate-001
veo-3.0-generate-001
veo-3.0-fast-generate-001
veo-3.1-generate-preview
veo-3.1-fast-generate-preview
My migration checklist before Veo 4 lands
Whether Veo 4 ships next week or in Q4 2026, the prep work is the same:
| # | Action | Effort |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Save current Veo 3.1 prompts and outputs | 1h |
| 2 | Build a 50-prompt video eval set | 2-4h |
| 3 | Track accepted vs rejected generations | Half day |
| 4 | Separate creative prompts from API parameters | 1 day |
| 5 | Add model ID as config, not hardcode | 30m |
| 6 | Compare Veo 4 vs Veo 3.1 Fast/Standard | Launch day |
| 7 | Measure cost per usable clip, not per generation | 1-2 days |
| 8 | Keep Veo 3.1 Lite for bulk drafts | Ongoing |
Don't migrate just because newer. Migrate if it cuts retries, improves controllability, or unlocks a workflow Veo 3.1 can't handle.
Code-wise, the cleanest pattern:
# config.py
VIDEO_MODEL = os.environ.get("VIDEO_MODEL", "veo-3.1-fast-generate-preview")
# generator.py
def generate_clip(prompt: str, **kwargs):
return client.generate_videos(model=VIDEO_MODEL, prompt=prompt, **kwargs)
When Veo 4 lands, set VIDEO_MODEL=veo-4.0-generate-preview (assuming Google follows naming conventions) and re-run your eval set. If accepted-clip cost drops, migrate. If not, hold.
Where I track this stuff
Personally I keep an eye on the model availability and pricing changes through TokenMix.ai's model intelligence dashboard — it tracks 170+ models across vendors and surfaces when new model IDs appear, when prices shift, and when something gets deprecated. Helpful for not missing the moment a Veo 4 endpoint actually opens up. Full writeup of the Veo 4 release date analysis, all pricing tables, and the migration checklist is on the main site at tokenmix.ai/blog/veo-4-release-date-google-io-2026.
Bottom line
If you're shipping video generation work this week, use Veo 3.1 (or Wan 2.6 if cost-per-second matters more than audio quality). Have your eval suite and config-driven model switch ready. Then watch the Google I/O 2026 keynote May 19-20 — if Veo 4 drops there, you can swap and re-bench in an afternoon. If it doesn't drop, the prep work still applies for the next time Google ships a flagship.
Curious if anyone has insider signal on the Veo 4 timing — drop a comment if you've seen anything more concrete than "coming soon."
All data verified May 18, 2026.