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Samsung raises its sails for a possible Galaxy AI / One Piece collaboration
- Samsung retail stores are making preparations for a new One Piece partnership featuring Galaxy AI
- Expect Samsung to show off image generation related to this effort at this week’s Unpacked event.
We’ve got less than one day to go until Samsung Unpacked 2024, when the company will formally introduce its latest series of foldables and wearables. More than just getting to know that shiny new hardware, we’ll be learning about the software and services attached to these devices — and because this is 2024, you had better believe that Samsung’s going to find a way to work in a whole lot of artificial intelligence (AI). As last-minute preparations are made, a report out of Japan suggests a possible AI-driven partnership between Samsung and the manga One Piece.
Android connoisseur Mishaal Rahman shares on X the tip he received from Lord Reset, who recounts his recent attempt to visit a Samsung store in Shibuya, Tokyo. Understandably, the store was getting ready for the new hardware that’s about to debut, shutting down some areas in preparation. And while that lack of access probably prevented any major spoilers from leaking out, the store employees did offer one juicy kernel of info, revealing what looks like a cross-promotion between Samsung’s Galaxy AI and One Piece.
What does One Piece, the long-running, swashbuckling series have to do with AI? That is a perfectly valid question, and for the moment we don’t yet have a great sense of the form this partnership will even take. Employees emphasized image generation and seemed to suggest to our tipster here that this isn’t just something to do with the new hardware being launched (like a One Piece special-edition handset, or anything like that). Perhaps we’ll be looking at something like a fun tool for making yourself into a One Piece character, or generating stickers for social media.
It’s interesting to see Samsung focusing on what seems to be an AI system more based on entertainment than on the sort of AI-driven utility that phone makers like Apple have been emphasizing in their recent announcements. Sure, Galaxy AI is very much about all that productivity business, too, but for this week, at least, that narrative could very much end up in the hands of some cartoon pirates.
Don’t forget to check in at 9:00 AM ET on July 10 to watch Samsung Unpacked live.