Perplexity, Samsung in talks to integrate AI assistant

Perplexity AI, a San Francisco-based startup, is in talks with Samsung Electronics to integrate its AI assistant into the company’s devices.

Sources familiar with the matter indicate that discussions with Samsung are in the early stages.

Potential terms include making Perplexity a default AI assistant option or preloading its Android app on Samsung devices.

Meanwhile, Perplexity has reached an agreement with Lenovo-owned Motorola for a similar integration.

While Samsung’s existing AI partnership with Alphabet could complicate matters, Samsung’s investment arm, Next, has previously backed Perplexity.

🔗 Source: Bloomberg

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ The race for AI assistant integration signals a strategic shift in mobile competition

Perplexity’s negotiations with Samsung highlight how AI assistant integration is becoming a critical battlefield in the smartphone industry.

This represents a significant shift from the traditional smartphone competition focused on hardware specifications to one centered on AI services and experiences, as evidenced by Samsung’s “AI for All” vision announced at CES 2025 1.

The development follows a broader trend where smartphone manufacturers are seeking AI partnerships to differentiate their offerings, with Perplexity having already secured deals with Motorola and Deutsche Telekom for an AI-centric phone.

This trend is occurring in a highly competitive AI assistant market where ChatGPT leads with 3.8 billion monthly visits, while Google Gemini and other competitors like Perplexity fight for market share 2.

Samsung’s willingness to consider alternative AI assistants despite its longstanding partnership with Google (which powers many of its AI features) demonstrates how crucial AI capabilities have become for device differentiation.

2️⃣ Samsung balances strategic investments and partnerships in pursuit of AI leadership

Samsung’s dual approach, investing in Perplexity while maintaining its Google partnership, reveals a sophisticated strategy to ensure it doesn’t become dependent on a single AI provider.

The company’s investment arm NEXT already backed Perplexity last year and is discussing making another investment as Perplexity seeks a new funding round that could push its valuation to $18 billion.