TM Roh, head of Samsung’s mobile division, discusses Galaxy AI’s artificial intelligence capabilities at the Galaxy Unpacked event in Paris, France, on July 10, 2024.
Arjun Kapoor CNBC
PARIS – Samsung will launch an upgraded version of its voice assistant Bixby this year based on its own artificial intelligence model, the head of Samsung’s mobile business told CNBC.
Digital assistants are back in the spotlight thanks to the popularity of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. TM Roh, head of Samsung’s mobile division, told CNBC that the company will launch a further upgraded version of Bixby this year that uses the South Korean tech giant’s own large language model (LLM).
“We will advance Bixby by applying Gen AI technology,” Roh said in Korean through a translator.
Bixby launched in 2017 Use with Samsung Galaxy S8 smartphone. Voice assistants come with a variety of features, including instant translation and restaurant recommendations. The Bixby Vision tool allows people to use their phone’s camera to scan anything in front of them, and Bixby will provide information about it.
CNBC reported before Samsung is working on an upgraded version of Bixby, but this is the first time the company has confirmed a release timeline.
Gen AI, or generative artificial intelligence, refers to artificial intelligence that can generate content such as answers to questions or images. The LL.M. is an artificial intelligence model that is trained on large amounts of data and provides the foundation for generative artificial intelligence.
However, Roh said Samsung will maintain its policy of allowing multiple voice assistants on its devices. For example, Google’s own artificial intelligence assistant is available on Samsung’s latest devices.
Roh Moo-hyun confirms Bixby upgrade after more than a month apple announced his assistant Siri will receive an artificial intelligence upgrade. Siri will be able to leverage OpenAI’s ChatGPT when it needs to answer more queries.
The Bixby upgrade is part of Samsung’s broader push to market artificial intelligence capabilities across its suite of devices. On Wednesday, the company launched two new foldable devices – Galaxy Z Fold6 and Z Flip6 — and launched some new artificial intelligence tools to encourage people to upgrade to better smartphones.
“We are enhancing and bringing more artificial intelligence capabilities to our products,” Roh said.
“As consumers use more artificial intelligence functions, they can truly feel the convenience and benefits they bring. I firmly believe that these Galaxy AI, mobile artificial intelligence are powerful motivations and driving forces for purchasing new products.”