How Google’s ‘most popular’ photo generation AI model got Nano Banana name and what it is officially called
Google’s latest image generation model, Gemini Nano Banana, became a viral sensation, yet few knew how it got its popular name. Now, David Sharon, a group product manager for the Gemini App, revealed the origin story on the Made By Google Podcast. He explained that an employee named Nina initially provided “Nano Banana” as a simple placeholder name, and it unexpectedly stuck, turning into one of AI’s most recognisable names.
“Nano Banana was created by a PM named Nina. And while she was submitting, when you submit a model anonymously to LM Arena, you need to give it a placeholder name,” Sharon said.
