Samsung is reportedly desperately still trying to make Bixby a thing

I can’t remember the last time someone mentioned Bixby to me. Samsung’s virtual assistant has fallen even farther behind this past year while its competitors, Gemini and Siri, have received major AI upgrades. However, that all might soon change. Samsung recently announced its Galaxy Unpacked event will take place on January 22 in San Jose, California, and the company is widely expected to unveil the Galaxy S25 series to the world with an overhauled Bixby.

In a teaser video for the event, a person can be heard saying, “Hey, when is the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked?” Followed by them asking for the date to be marked on their calendar and Galaxy AI popping up on the screen. Based on the video, it’s likely Samsung will show off its new Bixby update at the event, with the virtual assistant likely being powered by a large language model (LLM) similar to Gemini and ChatGPT.

Bixby might actually be relevant again

Samsung teased a major Bixby update last year

This isn’t the first time Samsung has hinted at significant changes coming to Bixby. Last year, an executive at Samsung revealed the company was working on bringing generative AI features to Bixby. TM Roh, Samsung’s mobile head, said in an interview last year with CNBC that the company was working on launching an AI-powered Bixby by the end of the year that relies on its own LLM, not Gemini or ChatGPT.

Samsung released an AI-powered Bixby last year. However, it only launched in China on the Galaxy W25 and W25 Flip. Samsung hasn’t mentioned anything about its international availability, likely because it’s saving all those details for Galaxy Unpacked. The upgraded Bixby on the Galaxy W25 and W25 Flip uses advanced LLMs to help the virtual assistant understand languages better and simultaneously process multiple and more complex commands.

Bixby’s significant AI upgrade will likely launch as part of Samsung’s One UI 7 update alongside the launch of the Galaxy S25 series. It’s not included in One UI 7’s public beta. Samsung is expected to reveal the Galaxy S25 series and its updated Bixby at its Galaxy Unpacked event on January 22. The company recently announced it was bringing its AI Subscription Club, which launched on some of its home appliances last year in South Korea, to Galaxy phones; however, it may not release globally.

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