Samsung unveils generative AI Gauss, to be integrated in Galaxy S24

Samsung Electronics Co. on Wednesday unveiled its first generative artificial intelligence model, Samsung Gauss, to compete with the likes of ChatGPT, Google Bard, Bing AI chatbot and other generative AI tools.

Samsung Gauss will initially be used in-house among employees to improve productivity but eventually will be incorporated into smart devices, including the upcoming Galaxy S24 smartphones, due early next year.

Developed by Samsung Research, the generative AI consists of three models – Samsung Gauss Language, Samsung Gauss Code and Samsung Gauss Image.

The South Korean tech giant said its AI model is named after Carl Friedrich Gauss, the mathematician who established the normal distribution theory, the backbone of machine learning and AI.

“Samsung Gauss will embody our vision to harness the power of AI to improve the lives of consumers everywhere,” said a company executive at Samsung AI Forum 2023, a two-day tech forum opened on Tuesday in Seoul.

Samsung Gauss Language, a generative language model, enhances work efficiency by facilitating tasks such as composing emails, summarizing documents and translating content.

After weeks of use by its employees, the company plans to reflect the employee feedback in the AI language before commercializing it by the end of this year.

From next year, the language model will be used in a variety of Samsung product applications, including its Bespoke line of home appliances.

Samsung Gauss Code and a coding assistant, code.i, which operates based on it, will be used for in-house software development. It will also support functions such as code description and work as an AI test case generator through an interactive interface.

Samsung Gauss Image is a generative image model that can generate and edit creative images, including style changes and additions, while also converting low-resolution images to high-resolution ones.

ON-DEVICE AI

Samsung Gauss will be the base for its on-device AI designed for smart gadgets such as smartphones, laptops and autonomous-driving cars.

Compared with conventional generative AI such as ChatGPT, on-device AI enables customized and personalized functions that offer higher security, cost less and have lower power consumption.

Although Samsung didn’t specify the availability of its AI platform at the forum, industry officials expect Samsung Gauss-based on-device AI will be embedded into its next-generation smartphone line of the Galaxy S24 series, scheduled for launch in January 2024.

With the release of Samsung Gauss, industry watchers said Samsung will be seriously competing with Big Tech companies, offering commercial AI services to make profits.

Microsoft Corp., for example, sells generative AI-based work assistance tools attached to Microsoft 365, a product family of productivity software, collaboration and cloud-based services.

“The rapid progress of generative AI technology is a paradigm shift that is expected to reshape both daily life and work,” Samsung said.

AI DEVELOPMENT WITH NAVER

Samsung, the world’s largest maker of memory chips and smartphones by volume, has joined hands with Naver Corp. to develop a generative AI platform for corporate users, particularly in the chip design and manufacturing sector.

Such chip AI tools will be unveiled as early next month, company officials said.

Samsung said in May it is collaborating with Naver to secure an in-house AI tool that can improve the company’s productivity while preventing the potential leak of business secrets that could occur using platforms developed by other companies.

Alarmed by an accidental data leak in early May, Samsung banned its Device eXperience (DX) division from using ChatGPT, Google Bard, Bing AI chatbot and other generative AI tools on their desktop computers, tablets and smartphones at their workplace.

The DX division oversees Samsung’s smartphone and home appliance businesses.

Samsung is the latest big Korean company to publicly express concerns about the use of generative AI tools and privacy fears.

In Korea, SK Hynix Inc., the world’s second-largest memory chipmaker, and POSCO Holdings Inc., Korea’s top steelmaker, have banned their employees from using generative AI chatbots at work.

Some Wall Street banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc., have either banned or restricted the use of ChatGPT and other generative AI platforms.

Samsung said on Wednesday it is also doing its best to ensure safe AI use by strengthening its ability to proactively eliminate risks and monitor security and privacy issues that may arise in the entire process, from data collection to AI model development, service deployment and AI-generated results.

Write to Ye-Rin Choi and Jeong-Soo Hwang at rambutan@hankyung.com
In-Soo Nam edited this article.