Google's steps to create a key in AI Studio, what happens for new and existing Cloud users, and how to keep it safe.
Using Gemini API keys
Google 2026
Open ai.google.dev →Both take a few minutes and only need a sign-in. For Gemini, open the API keys page in Google AI Studio (aistudio.google.com/apikey): new users get a default project and key once they accept the terms, and Gemini 3.8 Flash is free on the free tier, though Google uses free-tier data to improve its products and Gemini 4 Argon is not on it. For OpenAI, sign in at platform.openai.com, create a project key on the API keys page and add billing in your account settings; eligible ChatGPT Pro subscribers can instead claim up to $500 a month in API credits. Either way, treat the key like a password: keep it in an environment variable, never in your code, in Git or in an app's front end, set a billing alert, and replace it at once if it leaks.
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On the AI map, 29 October 2026 Frontier models Open-weight models Decision models
6 resources.
Google's steps to create a key in AI Studio, what happens for new and existing Cloud users, and how to keep it safe.
Google 2026
Open ai.google.dev →The free and paid tiers by model: Gemini 3.8 Flash is free on the free tier ($0.75 / $3.75 per million tokens paid until 31 December 2026); Gemini 4 Argon is paid only.
Google Nov 2026
Open ai.google.dev →OpenAI's first steps: create an API key in the dashboard, export it as an environment variable and make your first call.
OpenAI 2026
Open developers.openai.com →Which kind of key to use for your own testing, a deployed app or automation, and why one developer's key should not run production.
OpenAI 2026
Open developers.openai.com →Pro plans include $100, $200 or $500 of API credits a month and Business seats $20 or $100, claimed by linking the subscription to an API organisation.
OpenAI 2026
Open developers.openai.com →The same steps for Anthropic's API, if you want a Claude key as well.
Anthropic 2026
Open platform.claude.com →The same ground, over in Build the product, our Starting Up track.