Samsung expands AI agents, integrates Perplexity into new S26 smartphone

Samsung’s decision to bundle Perplexity AI as a selectable agent on the S26 marks the company’s most significant expansion of its on‑device conversational ecosystem since the rollout of Bixby in 2012. According to the PressReader report, the new handset will let users switch between Samsung’s native Bixby, Google’s Gemini (via the Android integration), and the third‑party Perplexity service, all from a single “AI Agent” menu in the Settings app. The move signals Samsung’s acknowledgment that a single‑vendor approach is no longer sufficient to satisfy power users who expect the breadth of knowledge‑graph answers and real‑time web retrieval that Perplexity advertises.

Perplexity, a startup that differentiates itself by combining large‑language‑model (LLM) reasoning with live web indexing, will run on the S26’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 platform, leveraging the device’s 12 GB of LPDDR5X RAM to keep inference latency under 300 ms for most queries, as noted in the PressReader coverage. Samsung’s engineering team has reportedly integrated the service through its One UI 7.0 overlay, exposing Perplexity’s “Ask Anything” prompt directly on the lock screen and within the Quick Panel for instant access. The integration also adds a “Contextual Follow‑Up” feature that preserves conversation state across apps, allowing the AI to reference recent emails, calendar events, or browsing history without requiring a separate sign‑in, a capability highlighted by the same source.

The addition of Perplexity arrives amid a broader competitive push among Android OEMs to diversify AI offerings. Forbes’ Android Circuit roundup, while focused on OnePlus’s OxygenOS 16 launch and Honor’s Magic8 robot, underscores a trend where manufacturers are bundling multiple AI agents to avoid lock‑in to a single ecosystem. Samsung’s strategy mirrors this shift, positioning the S26 as a “best‑of‑both‑worlds” device that can satisfy users loyal to Samsung’s hardware while still tapping into the rapidly evolving LLM market. By offering Perplexity alongside Google’s Gemini, Samsung hopes to capture a segment of consumers who view third‑party AI as a hedge against the opacity of major cloud providers.

Analysts have warned that the proliferation of AI agents could strain device resources and complicate the user experience, but Samsung appears to have mitigated these concerns through hardware acceleration. The PressReader article notes that the S26’s AI Engine, a dedicated NPU (Neural Processing Unit) introduced in the previous generation, now supports Perplexity’s model inference pipelines, reducing power draw by an estimated 15 % compared with CPU‑only execution. This efficiency gain is crucial for maintaining the S26’s advertised 48‑hour battery life under mixed‑usage scenarios that include frequent AI queries.

While Samsung has not disclosed pricing for the Perplexity integration, the PressReader piece indicates that the service will be offered as a free tier with optional premium upgrades for higher query limits and priority access to newer model versions. This mirrors Perplexity’s existing consumer‑facing subscription model, suggesting that Samsung will act primarily as a distribution channel rather than a revenue‑sharing partner. The rollout will begin with the South Korean market, followed by a phased global release later in the quarter, according to the same source. If successful, the partnership could set a precedent for other OEMs to adopt third‑party LLM agents, further fragmenting the Android AI landscape.