Google Cloud's February 2026 release notes cover updates across GKE, Gemini, BigQuery, Cortex Framework, and more.
•GKE (2026-R8) updated the default cluster version to 1.34.3-gke.1318000 across Regular, Extended, and Stable channels, with new auto-upgrade targets for minor and patch versions
•Gemini 3.1 Flash Image (gemini-3.1-flash-image) is now in public preview, offering high-quality image generation with improved pricing and latency
•BigQuery will restrict legacy SQL usage starting June 1, 2026, for projects that do not use it between November 2025 and June 2026
•Cortex Framework 6.3.4 adds Airflow v3 support, upgrades Meta API from v21 to v25, and improves SAP CDC handling for custom table names with forward slashes
•Cloud Trace introduces public preview support for configuring default observability bucket settings including location and Cloud KMS key
Google Cloud Platform (GCP) - Release notes