Google has an LLM called Gemini, and you can access it through your Google account. Let's walk through the steps to getting this setup.
Most people have a Google/Gmail account. If you have a Gmail account, you have a Google account. If you don't have a Gmail or Google account yet, you will need to set one up.
Go to http://google.com. Click on the Sign In button in the upper right corner. On the following screen, you will see Create Account next to the Next button. Click on Create Account and go through the steps to setup a Google account. Be sure to save your passwords and be logged into your Google account on your browser for the following steps.
Google runs its Gemini LLM out of Google Cloud for people that want API keys. It is also possible (late 2024) that they may give you free credits in Google Cloud if you set up your account this way. The free credits are nice, but I'm sure they will discontinue them at some point.
Anyway, you're going to want to setup your Google Cloud account in order to get your Gemini API keys.
Go to https://console.cloud.google.com/
As you can see in this screen, they are still offering the $300 in credits so I'm going to take that route to sign up. If this isn't available to you (maybe because it's expired or because it's country-specific) then you should look for a similar Google Cloud Setup link like the one circled in green on the right.
When you click to either get the free credits or setup your account, you get a screen to choose your country.
After you Agree & Continue, you will be led through a series of screens to set up your billing. I have now done this twice, and yes, it does not bill you after the free trial ends. You can feel secure that that won't happen UNLESS you are using the service. If after the credits expire you decide not to use Gemini anymore via the API, you will not be billed.
After you set up your billing information, you will get a welcome screen.
The way this works is that Google sets up your very first project for you and calls it My First Project. It's in this project that you can create keys. But let me show you how to setup a new project just for Raptor Write so you can track all of your work.
Go to the top of your screen and click on the My First Project dropdown menu. A popup window will appear.
You're going to click on the New Project button in the top right of the screen.