Hello, we’re on paid Tier 1 and seeing prolonged 503s on gemini-3-pro-image-preview.
Time window:
- Started: Feb 18, 2026 (UTC)
- Still occurring: Feb 20, 2026 (UTC)
Request pattern:
- Gemini API (AI Studio key)
- Low traffic, serial only (concurrency=1)
- Exponential backoff retries enabled (up to long waits)
- Still many failures with:
503 UNAVAILABLE/ “model is currently experiencing high demand”
Observed behavior:
- Not a quota error (no dominant 429 pattern)
- Billing is active and paid tier is confirmed
- Occasional success can happen, but failure rate remains very high over long periods
Example error:
{'error': {'code': 503, 'message': 'This model is currently experiencing high demand. Spikes in demand are usually temporary. Please try again later.', 'status': 'UNAVAILABLE'}}