Samsung adds Perplexity to Galaxy AI, unveils S26 series and AI‑powered headphones at

Samsung’s rollout of Perplexity marks the first time the company will support more than one AI agent within its Galaxy AI framework. The “Hey Plex” wake‑word will summon Perplexity’s large‑language model to answer queries, draft notes, set alarms, and pull images from the Gallery, all while remaining tightly integrated with native apps such as Samsung Notes, Clock, Reminder and Calendar, Engadget reported. Samsung says the new agent can also be invoked via a dedicated hardware shortcut, giving users a tactile entry point that mirrors the existing Bixby button. In a statement, Won‑Joon Choi, Samsung’s COO and head of the Mobile eXperience Business R&D, described Galaxy AI as an “orchestrator” that unifies disparate AI services into a single, cohesive experience, a sentiment echoed across the coverage.

The timing of the announcement is strategic: Samsung will unveil the S26 flagship line and a pair of AI‑enhanced headphones at its upcoming global Galaxy Unpacked event, as confirmed by Mix Vale. While the company has not disclosed the full feature set of the new earbuds, the press release emphasizes “advanced artificial intelligence” for real‑time translation, ambient‑noise suppression, and contextual music recommendations. By pairing Perplexity’s conversational strengths with on‑device audio processing, Samsung appears to be positioning its hardware ecosystem as a unified AI platform that can compete with Apple’s tightly coupled Siri‑plus‑Apple Watch experience.

Perplexity’s inclusion also signals a shift away from Samsung’s historic reliance on Google’s Gemini integration. ZDNet noted that the pre‑loading of Perplexity’s app on upcoming Galaxies raises questions about the future of Gemini on Samsung devices, though the company has not formally announced any deprecation. The Verge corroborated that Samsung’s AI roadmap now features multiple third‑party agents, suggesting a more open‑ended approach that could accommodate additional services beyond Perplexity. This diversification may help Samsung sidestep the limitations of a single‑vendor model, but it also introduces complexity in maintaining consistent performance and privacy standards across agents.

Perplexity’s recent legal troubles add a layer of risk to Samsung’s partnership. The AI search startup has faced lawsuits alleging content scraping and copyright infringement, most notably from Merriam‑Webster and Encyclopaedia Britannica in September, as Engadget highlighted. Samsung’s decision to embed the service in its flagship phones and headphones therefore carries potential reputational exposure, especially if the litigation escalates or results in injunctions that affect the model’s training data. Industry observers have not yet quantified the impact, but the move underscores Samsung’s willingness to gamble on emerging AI players to differentiate its ecosystem.

Analysts see Samsung’s multi‑agent strategy as a response to the broader AI arms race among smartphone makers. By offering both a refreshed Bixby experience and Perplexity’s conversational depth, Samsung hopes to give users “more choice and flexibility in getting their tasks done,” as Choi put it. If the integration proves seamless, it could set a new benchmark for Android OEMs that have traditionally been locked into Google’s AI stack. Conversely, any friction—whether from latency, inconsistent UI, or the fallout from Perplexity’s legal disputes—could undermine Samsung’s ambition to present a unified, AI‑first user experience across its next‑generation hardware.