In a surprising and bold move, Samsung Electronics is reportedly in talks to replace Google’s Gemini AI with Perplexity AI as the default assistant on its upcoming Galaxy S26 series. This would mark a significant shift in Samsung’s AI strategy, reducing its reliance on Google services and potentially offering users a more personalized and responsive experience.
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Samsung is expected to make Perplexity AI the default assistant on its Galaxy S26 smartphones, according to recent reports.
What Is Perplexity AI?
Perplexity AI is a rapidly rising AI startup known for developing a powerful conversational search engine that provides concise, real-time, sourced responses. It combines the functionality of a search engine with the natural language capabilities of a chatbot, allowing users to engage in ongoing, meaningful queries and receive direct answers.
Perplexity AI is gaining attention as a promising alternative to Google’s Gemini due to its advanced question-answering capabilities.
How Samsung Plans to Use Perplexity AI
Samsung is reportedly considering embedding Perplexity AI not only in its smartphone assistant but across multiple layers of its software and services, including:
- As the default AI assistant in the Galaxy S26 series
- In the Samsung Internet browser for improved contextual search results
- In the Bixby ecosystem, replacing or enhancing existing voice assistant features
- At the OS level, offering system-wide AI enhancements
The AI will not only be present in the Galaxy S26 series but could also appear in Samsung’s browser and other areas of the phone’s interface.
Strategic Investment May Be on the Table
Samsung is also reportedly planning to invest in Perplexity AI as part of a broader partnership. The Korean tech giant is expected to participate in Perplexity’s next funding round, strengthening ties and ensuring deeper integration between the two companies’ technologies.
Samsung is expected to join Perplexity’s funding round, signaling a deeper business relationship. This investment could potentially give Samsung partial ownership or privileged access to Perplexity’s future updates and technology roadmap.
Why Move Away From Google’s Gemini?
Samsung’s shift to Perplexity AI may be driven by several factors:
- Control over AI experience: Google’s Gemini is deeply integrated with Google Search and services. Using Perplexity gives Samsung more independence.
- Innovation edge: Perplexity’s focus on real-time, cited, conversational results may align better with Samsung’s push for cutting-edge AI.
- Reducing over-reliance on Google: Samsung may want to diversify its partnerships to avoid overdependence on Google’s ecosystem.
Samsung may want to provide its users with an alternative AI model, especially one that doesn’t rely on Google’s infrastructure.
When Will This Happen?
The Galaxy S26 series is expected to launch in early 2026, and it’s likely this will be the first lineup to ship with Perplexity AI as the default assistant. Final decisions are expected to be made before the end of 2025, depending on the success of ongoing talks and technical integration.
If talks go as planned, we could see Perplexity AI debut with the Galaxy S26, which is expected next year.
Industry Impact
This move could set a precedent for other Android device manufacturers looking to offer non-Google AI assistants. Samsung’s adoption of a new AI model could also intensify competition in the consumer AI space, which is currently dominated by Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Samsung’s choice could influence how other Android phone makers approach AI integration.
Moving Forward
Samsung’s potential shift from Google Gemini to Perplexity AI reflects a major evolution in the AI landscape. By embracing a new, fast-rising AI platform, Samsung is betting on a future where AI assistants are more conversational, independent, and directly useful.
Whether this move becomes a long-term strategy or just an experimental phase will depend on user feedback, technological performance, and how well Perplexity integrates with Samsung’s massive ecosystem. But one thing is clear: Samsung is not afraid to rewrite the AI rulebook.
By – Nikita
