What you need to know
- Samsung announces its expanded partnership with Google Cloud as it teases what Gemini’s influence will enable on its AI companion, Ballie.
- The post teases multimodal reasoning alongside Samsung’s AI software on Ballie for a more personal assistant that’s “proactive” for home tasks.”
- Ballie can help users with fashion, health, and wellness while also handling home tasks like adjusting lights, setting reminders, and more.
- Samsung confirms Ballie is preparing to launch “later this summer” in the U.S. and South Korea.
While we await Samsung’s personal robot reveal, the company is highlighting a new partnership to expand its AI capabilities later this summer.
In a press release, Samsung announced a new partnership with Google Cloud, which will bring the Gemini model to the personal home companion, Ballie. Samsung’s executive vice president of the visual display business, Yongjae Kim, said, “By pairing Gemini’s powerful multimodal reasoning with Samsung’s AI capabilities in Ballie, we’re leveraging the power of open collaboration to unlock a new era of personalized AI companion.”
For consumers, the post says Ballie will leverage Gemini’s multimodal software alongside Samsung’s language models to “process and understand a variety of inputs.” Ballie is said to understand/process audio and the user’s voice. Additionally, the AI companion can process visual data from its camera and sensor data from its environment.
With Gemini and Samsung’s software, Ballie’s behavior and responses are expected to “adapt in real-time.”
Ballie has your back
Samsung states this partnership with Google should move Ballie into a personal position, allowing users to seek help for a variety of subjects. The post highlights Ballie’s ability to help users with fashion choices in the morning. Samsung gives the following example: “Hey Ballie, how do I look?” The AI robot will reportedly examine you through its camera before offering a set of “styling recommendations,” which could include accessories or an entirely new top.
Elsewhere, Ballie features health and wellness assistance. If a user is tired, Samsung says it can express this to the AI robot. Ballie will then use Gemini’s Search engine abilities to find how best to improve its users’ energy levels.
Samsung confirms Ballie is preparing to launch “this summer” in the U.S. and South Korea. While the post highlights more personal AI assistance, the little yellow ball will also aid in smart home tasks like adjusting your lights, answering the door, setting reminders, and more. Samsung states it’s still finalizing product specifications, so more concrete information about Ballie will be made available at a later time.
Users can sign up for Ballie updates to stay in the loop.
Samsung first teased Ballie in a promo video five years ago, during CES 2020. We got a surprising update about it earlier this year in January from Samsung’s vice chairman, Han Jong-hee, who said Ballie is preparing to launch in the U.S. and South Korea. However, Han Jong-hee stated the robot would see a “first half” of 2025 launch, which remains to be seen. If true, then Ballie would have to debut sometime between now and June.