Google releases Gemma 4 under Apache 2.0 — and that license change may matter more than benchmarks
Summary
For the past two years, enterprises evaluating open-weight models have faced an awkward trade-off.
Google's Gemma line consistently delivered strong performance, but its custom license — with usage restrictions and terms Google could update at will — pushed many teams toward Mistral or Alibaba's Qwen instead.
Legal review added friction.
Compliance teams flagged edge cases.
Why it matters
Track this if you're watching model capability, evaluation, or deployment shifts: Google releases Gemma 4 under Apache 2.0 — and that license change may matter more than benchmarks