Baidu’s AI Ernie to power Samsung Galaxy S24 in China

Samsung Electronics Co.'s latest smartphone series Galaxy S24 to be released in China will feature Baidu Inc.’s Ernie Bot artificial intelligence software, dropping Google’s Gemini, according to foreign media reports.

Ernie Bot is said to be Baidu’s response to Open AI’s ChatGPT and will enable the Galaxy S24 series to translate, organize and summarize text.

Bloomberg cited Baidu's statement that Ernie will also provide backend support for Samsung’s Circle to Search feature, which is handled by Alphabet Inc.’s Google in other markets.

The decision to drop Google’s Gemini reflects Samsung’s endeavor to regain ground in its neighboring country, where it has not made the list of top five smartphone brands.

For Baidu, integrating its Ernie chatbot into Samsung’s latest smartphones will allow it to utilize the AI tool in various smartphone models.

Samsung unveiled Galaxy S24 models earlier this month, calling them “AI phones,” packed with a variety of AI features.

Galaxy S24 provides real-time call translation and a new search tool, Circle to Search, which lets users circle an image on the phone to get related information.

They will hit the shelves on Jan. 31 in South Korea and some select global markets with later release in other markets.

As of the end of last December, the Ernie bot had surpassed 100 million users just four months after its public release, according to Baidu.

Google's Android software is used as the operating system for Chinese smartphones, but Google's add-on mobile services and app stores do not serve them.

Write to Jeong-Soo Hwang at hjs@hankyung.com
 


Yeonhee Kim edited this article.