Broad bandwidth 5d→4ftransitions in Ce3+have been considered for tunable laser action. In this letter, optical probe measurements of excited Ce3+ions in Y3Al5O12show that stimulated emission in the 550–610‐nm region is not possible at 295 K because of excited‐state absorption. Transient measurements demonstrate that part of this loss has ≈75‐ns lifetime and is associated with absorption from the lowest 5dlevel; a longer‐lifetime loss is also observed. The excited‐state‐absorption loss is reduced at lower temperatures.