Samsung Electronics boss says it's betting on AI that blends into the background, not spectacle

In a landscape dominated by flashy AI trends, Samsung is charting a different course. Simon Sung, the CEO of Samsung Electronics Europe, revealed in an interview with Business Insider that the company's AI approach prioritizes practicality and subtlety. Rather than focusing on eye-catching features, Samsung aims to create AI systems that provide real, everyday value, whether through smart home devices that operate independently or appliances that seamlessly manage daily tasks. Samsung has developed its own large language models, named Samsung Gauss, although these are not marketed as standalone products like OpenAI's ChatGPT. Instead, the company's consumer strategy revolves around the Galaxy AI assistant, integrated into its smartphones. This assistant combines Samsung's proprietary technology with innovations from partners like Google, enabling functionalities such as live translation and transcription. Sung emphasized a shift in perspective, stating, "The shift is from AI as a feature you turn on to AI as a companion that works alongside you." Within the vast operations of the South Korean conglomerate, Samsung Electronics stands at the forefront of consumer technology, encompassing Galaxy smartphones, televisions, and home appliances. The company is also a major producer of memory chips essential for PCs and data centers. In its recent earnings forecast, Samsung projected a tripling of profits for the final quarter of 2025, driven by heightened demand for memory chips to support AI advancements. Earlier this year, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Samsung showcased an array of products including TVs, kitchen appliances, and washing machines, all equipped with advanced sensors and voice recognition capabilities. Sung articulated the overarching goal: to transform technology from a mere collection of gadgets into an interconnected, responsive ecosystem that adapts to users' lives. Within the company, Samsung fosters a collaborative culture by providing training and promoting communication among product, design, engineering, and marketing teams. This approach is designed to cultivate AI fluency across the organization, allowing employees to view intelligence as an integral aspect of the user experience rather than a standalone feature.