Instead of Google AI, the Galaxy S24 series in the Chinese market will integrate artificial intelligence technology developed by search engine Baidu.
On January 26, Samsung announced that it would partner with Baidu AI Cloud to bring the Ernie chatbot to the Galaxy S24 line. This is seen as a strategy of the South Korean phone maker to expand its market share in the country of a billion people.
The Galaxy S24 series with Ernie will have all the AI features as the international version. With the S Pen stylus, users can search for images by circling the subject, then the online search engines available in China will provide relevant results. According to Baidu, Ernie also supports translation, text summarization, and speech transcription in multiple languages through Note Assistant.
Globally, Samsung uses Google’s Gemini model to support AI features for new-generation devices. However, in China, this AI tool is not available, forcing the Korean manufacturer to rely on domestic partners to maintain its competitiveness amid many rivals with the goal of adding AI to smartphones. At the beginning of January, Honor launched the Magic 6 phone equipped with the MagicLM model developed by the company itself. Oppo also introduced the AndesGPT AI tool on its flagship Find X7 product at the end of last year. In addition, many other brands such as Xiaomi, Huawei, and Vivo have also joined the race.
According to SCMP, Samsung has reason to decide to partner with a Chinese company. Currently, the country of a billion people wants to limit the influence of AI models from foreign companies. Last August, the regulatory authority also issued a series of new standards, requiring AI services in China to provide healthy content and comply with core social values.
Reuters assesses the Ernie AI model on the Galaxy S24, which has been upgraded several times by Baidu, China’s largest Internet search company, over the past year, giving it a major advantage in the AI race. In June of last year, the company introduced the Ernie bot 3.5, claiming to have 17 times the reasoning ability of version 3.0 and was able to compete with ChatGPT in some tests.
By October 2023, Baidu continued to launch Ernie bot 4, which is said to be as powerful as OpenAI’s GPT-4. According to CEO Robin Li, the new product demonstrated impressive ability to understand and answer complex questions in a variety of fields such as mathematics and image creation. At the end of December of the same year, the Ernie chatbot officially surpassed the 100 million user mark worldwide.
Samsung’s decision to partner with Baidu for the Galaxy S24 series in China is a strategic move to expand its market share in the country. The company is facing increasing competition from Chinese brands that are integrating AI into their smartphones. By using Baidu’s Ernie AI model, Samsung can offer its Chinese customers a competitive product with cutting-edge AI features.
Baidu’s Ernie AI model is a powerful tool that has been upgraded several times over the past year. It is capable of understanding and responding to complex questions in a variety of fields, including mathematics, natural language processing, and image generation. This makes it a valuable asset for Samsung as it seeks to differentiate its Galaxy S24 series from the competition in China.
