What you need to know
- Samsung plans to analyze consumer needs and preferences to make informed decisions about the post-2025 Galaxy AI model.
- However, Samsung's mobile chief, T.M. Roh, revealed uncertainty about the fate of Galaxy AI after 2025, with no decisions made yet for a paid tier.
- Samsung is also expanding Galaxy AI to over 100 million devices worldwide in the coming months.
Samsung Electronics' mobile business head, T.M. Roh, has dropped a hint that Galaxy AI features could be cashing in on our pockets at some point after 2025, with additional perks potentially arriving later for paying customers.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 series debuted earlier this month, flaunting AI tricks like summarizing and translating web pages. However, shortly after the announcement, there were strong indications that Samsung would keep these AI goodies free until the end of 2025.
Internet sleuths wasted no time dissecting the fine print on the product page, which spilled the beans on the timeline. However, Samsung remains mum on what happens next.
In an interview with ET Telecom, Roh confirmed that Galaxy AI is on the house until the end of next year. But after 2025, it's a bit of a mystery. Roh said that Samsung is still in the decision-making phase.
While the company doesn't have a solid plan yet, Roh indicated that there's a variety of needs for mobile AI out there.
"According to our analysis, there are various needs for mobile AI," Roh told ET Telecom. "So, there will be consumers who will be satisfied with using the AI capabilities for free."
Roh further hinted that Samsung might dangle more powerful AI features in front of those willing to spend some cash for the extra perks.
"Then there could also be customers who wish for even more powerful AI capabilities and even pay for them," he said. "So, in the future decision-making, we will take all these factors into consideration."
Samsung won't be the only player in the premium AI market. Take OpenAI, for instance; it's charging $20 for ChatGPT Plus, which gets you access to GPT-4, custom chatbots, and the DALL-E 3 model.
No matter what's in store for Galaxy AI, Samsung plans to sprinkle AI features on a whopping 100 million devices worldwide this year, as per Roh. Samsung recently confirmed that older handsets are getting a taste of those AI capabilities.
Roh highlighted that Samsung is all-in on developing these AI features, so charging for Galaxy AI was bound to happen. And with its goal of getting Galaxy AI on millions of devices globally, it's a golden chance for fresh cash flow for the South Korean tech giant.
