Samsung Upgrades Bixby With Perplexity-Powered AI Features, Takes Page Out of Apple’s Playbook

Samsung announced a new beta programme for its upgraded AI-powered Bixby assistant, which is set to arrive on eligible Galaxy devices with the Android 16-based One UI 8.5 update. The update brings various capabilities and features to the voice assistant, which will now use Perplexity's web search functionality to generate answers to user queries, similar to what Apple did when it integrated ChatGPT with its Siri assistant. Samsung also highlighted that users will soon be able to converse with the upgraded version of Bixby using natural language, eliminating the need to state the exact names of the settings or commands.

Samsung's AI-Powered Bixby to Leverage Perplexity's Web Search Capabilities

The South Korean tech giant said that it is upgrading its on-device assistant with AI features, which will be first rolled out to eligible Galaxy devices in select markets with the Android 16-based One UI 8.5 update. Soon, Bixby will allow users to use natural language to ask queries and execute commands. Users will no longer have to mention specific keyboards when asking the AI chatbot to change settings or perform tasks.

The AI-powered version of Samsung's Bixby does not need to know “how device menus are structured or remember specific terms” to do specific tasks on command, the company highlighted. This, Samsung claims, reduces the “time and effort” a user has to put in to change settings and features on their Galaxy devices.

As an example, the tech giant cited a scenario where a user wants their phone's screen not time out during inactivity. Users can simply tell Bixby, “I don't want the screen to time out while I'm still looking at it,” and the AI-powered assistant will understand the command and turn on the Keep Screen on While Viewing setting.

Another significant update to Bixby is the Perplexity-powered real-time web search capabilities. With the One UI 8.5 update, Bixby will be able to access information from the internet while displaying the results within the Bixby user interface. Users will not have to open a web browser to search for information, as all the relevant links will be presented within the chat window, offering a more “consistent” experience.

This appears to be straight out of Apple's playbook, as the Cupertino tech giant also relies on third-party AI firms to perform on-device AI tasks. While iPhone models currently redirect users to ChatGPT for complex queries, the company is also collaborating with Google to bring Gemini's AI capabilities to the upgraded version of Siri, which was first unveiled at the WWDC in 2024. Google will provide Gemini models for Apple's "next-generation" foundation models, which will offer a more personalised experience to users. It is set to roll out later this year.