Samsung says Bixby’s still not dead

Bixby’s not dead but, apparently. A Samsung govt tells CNBC that the corporate is “working so hard” to equip its voice assistant with AI options, suggesting that the corporate sees the likes of Gemini as competitors — not a substitute.

That’s good to know, as a result of a few of us had been beginning to marvel. Earlier this yr as Samsung introduced a boatload of recent generative AI options for its flagship telephones, its voice assistant was scarcely talked about. Samsung and Google additionally made a giant deal in regards to the Galaxy S24 telephones utilizing Gemini Nano — Google’s on-device AI mannequin. It wouldn’t have been a stretch to see Samsung change Bixby with Google’s Gemini-powered assistant, however apparently, that’s not the plan.

Samsung’s Won-joon Choi, govt vice chairman of cell, mentioned to CNBC, “I believe that we have to redefine the role of the Bixby, so that Bixby could be equipped with generative AI,” including that it will have to be “smarter” and capable of converse extra naturally. As it stands, Samsung isn’t the one tech firm scrambling to include AI into its voice assistant — Apple is predicted to announce an AI-ified Siri at this yr’s WWDC.

In the meantime, the Galaxy S24’s AI options made their solution to final yr’s telephones by means of a One UI 6.1 replace. Galaxy AI, as the entire package deal known as, is free for now. If Samsung does plan to cost for its AI options sooner or later, it’ll have to supply much more than what it’s able to now. Whatever that imaginative and prescient appears to be like like, Bixby seems to be a part of it.