The past two years of Samsung smartphones have been mostly Galaxy AI and little else, and the company is certainly not stopping anytime soon with its AI integration efforts, as seen with its recent collaboration with Google for some of the Gemini-powered features. Still, some wonder if these features will stay free forever, and Samsung has responded.
Samsung: Default Galaxy AI Features To Remain Free
In a pre-briefing to media outlets in the US, Samsung has assured its core Galaxy AI features will remain free. Per PCMag, Senior Product Manager at Samsung Electronics America, Peter Park, said: “While plans for premium AI experiences will be decided in close coordination with our partners, there are no plans to charge for Galaxy AI experiences provided by default.”
What “by default” means here is the features that Samsung offers on its smartphones right out of the box. Things like Writing Assist, Note Assist, Drawing Assist, Audio Eraser, Live Translation, Now Brief, and other similar features will not require subscriptions; however, those that rely third-party providers such as Google’s Gemini may require paid plans depending on their policies.
While the Korean smartphone giant technically specified that Galaxy AI features will at least be free until “end of 2025”, the company is, thus far, unwilling to commit on a paid subscription model just yet. As a matter of fact, the company is willing to absorb the costs for now if it means it can “democratize AI experiences“, in hopes to increase its market presence.
Pokdepinion: I can see some features becoming free since onboard processing is feasible – for ones that require cloud processing, it’s a question of ‘when’ a company eventually charges it for use.
