Samsung confirms an AI-enhanced Bixby upgrade is coming in 2024

Samsung has announced that it plans to release an upgraded version of Bixby this year. The announcement comes amidst a reignited race to deliver the smartest on-device voice assistant, sparked in part by the launch of ChatGPT two years ago.

Google has already started replacing Google Assistant with Gemini, Apple has announced some huge AI-powered upgrades coming to Siri, and now Samsung is throwing its hat into the ring with a revamped Bixby.

TM Roh, who leads Samsung’s mobile division, told CNBC about the company’s plans to launch an enhanced version of Bixby this year. This update will utilize Samsung’s proprietary large language model (LLM), promising a significant boost to Bixby’s capabilities with the help of generative AI.

Since its debut in 2017 alongside the Galaxy S8, Bixby has offered many of the same features that Google Assistant offers, such as live translations, restaurant recommendations, and the Bixby Vision tool for object recognition. However, it was not as good as Google Assistant at most of these things. Thankfully, the company recognizes this and offers us the choice to use either Bixby or Google Assistant (now Gemini) on its phones.

While specific details about the upgraded Bixby remain under wraps, Roh also confirmed that Samsung will continue to offer multiple voice assistant options on its devices, allowing users to choose their preferred platform.

This upgrade could represent a significant step for Bixby, potentially bridging the gap with its competitors. It also aligns with Samsung’s broader strategy to incorporate AI features across its product ecosystem. The company just announced its Z Fold 6 and Z Flip 6 folding phones, and the launch event heavily emphasized their AI capabilities.

We don’t have any official word about the exact timeline for the upgraded Bixby launch, but Samsung could bundle it with the One UI 7 update, which is slated to roll out around the end of this year.