Samsung adds Perplexity to Galaxy AI
Get the Tech newsletter
Daily tech — startups, AI labs, chips, the launches that shape the next decade. Free.
- Samsung is integrating Perplexity into Galaxy AI for Galaxy S26, letting users activate the assistant with the dedicated voice command "hey, Plex" alongside existing options like Bixby and Gemini.
- Perplexity will gain access to Samsung Notes, Clock, Gallery, Reminder, and Calendar, as well as select third-party apps that Samsung did not name, going well beyond a simple app-level embed.
- Samsung is framing the move as part of a "multi-agent ecosystem" strategy, arguing that people already use different AI assistants for different tasks and should be free to plug their preferred one into the OS.
- Samsung is positioning open agent choice as a differentiator from Apple and Google, betting that users' tendency to form attachments to specific AIs will draw them to a platform that doesn't lock them in.
- Samsung plans to share more about Galaxy AI and its multi-agent vision at its Unpacked event on the 25th.
Why it matters: Samsung is betting that user choice — not a single in-house assistant — is the differentiator in the AI phone wars, explicitly naming Apple and Google as the competition it's trying to outflank. The concrete hook is Perplexity's deep access to Samsung's native apps, which turns the multi-agent pitch from a slogan into an OS-level invitation.
