Subject: Google AI Studio / Gemini API Unavailable in Réunion Island (France, EU)

Google AI Studio
,
1

Hello Google Team and community,

I am writing to highlight a significant issue regarding the availability of Google AI Studio and the Gemini API. As a developer based in Réunion Island, a French overseas department and region, I am unable to access these crucial tools.

The error message is straightforward: “Google AI Studio is not available in your country.”

However, it is vital to understand that Réunion is not a foreign country. It is an integral part of the French Republic, with the same legal status as mainland France, and is a full member of the European Union.

This situation has real and negative consequences:

  • Stifles development: Developers, students, and entrepreneurs in Réunion are locked out of essential AI technology, while their counterparts in mainland France have free access. This creates a significant inequality in terms of education and innovation.
  • Geographical discrimination: Réunion is often treated as a “grey area” by online services, despite its clear political and legal status. This is a major obstacle to the growth of our local tech scene and goes against efforts to reduce the digital divide.

We are not requesting a service for a new country, but simply access to a service that should already be available in a French region. The technical infrastructure is in place, and the legal framework is identical to that of the mainland. The only thing missing is the inclusion of our region on the list of eligible territories.

We kindly ask you to review the country list and unblock access for Réunion. Doing so would allow our dynamic developer community to contribute fully to Google’s AI ecosystem.

Thank you for your attention and support.

Best regards,

Manoux Developer based in Réunion Island

8 Likes
3

Hi @Emmanuel_MARCADE,

Welcome to the Forum,

Thank you for your interest in Google AI Studio and the Gemini API. We really appreciate your enthusiasm. While Réunion Island isn’t currently a supported region, we’ll definitely bring this request to the attention of the teams.

4

Hi Chunduriv,

Thank you very much for your quick reply and for forwarding our request to the relevant teams. We really appreciate you taking this issue into consideration.

Access to Google AI Studio and the Gemini API is crucial for the development of our tech ecosystem in Réunion. As a French department and an integral part of the European Union, we sincerely hope our region will soon be added to the list of eligible territories.

We are ready to provide any further information that might help speed up this process.

Thanks again for your help and support.

6

Hi Google Team,

I am bumping this thread because this issue has persisted for months without resolution, effectively locking out French developers located in Overseas Territories.

To clarify the situation once more: Réunion Island is not a separate country.

  1. Political Status: It is a French Overseas Department (DROM). Legally, it is fully part of France.

  2. EU Status: It is an Outermost Region (OMR) of the European Union. The same laws (including GDPR) apply here as in Paris or Berlin.

Since Gemini and AI Studio are officially available in France and the EU, the continued blocking of IPs from Réunion seems to be a configuration oversight in your geo-filtering rules. It is likely that the ISO 3166-1 code RE was mistakenly excluded from the “France” or “EEA” (European Economic Area) allowlist.

Could you please escalate this to the Geo-Compliance or Engineering team to update the region allowlist? We are currently forced to use VPNs to access services we are legally entitled to access directly.

Thank you for your help in resolving this.

9 Likes