Samsung warns about paywalled AI features in Galaxy S24 Ultra

Updated on January 23rd: Article originally posted on January 19th.

Will Samsung move some of its Galaxy AI features behind a paywall in two years? Galaxy S24 Ultra product page suggests that this is the case.

Samsung’s comments on Galaxy AI The feature is described in a footnote on the Galaxy S24 Ultra page on the US site: “Galaxy AI features will be free on supported Samsung Galaxy devices until the end of 2025. different terms may apply.”

Software subscription services are not known. Adobe has several subscriptions across its portfolio, and consumers will be aware that they can purchase additional storage from their cloud services to increase their storage. If the Galaxy AI service becomes a paid feature, will consumers be able to play it no matter how much they pay? If Samsung decides to go down this path, it will need to balance maximizing revenue with maximizing user numbers. be.

Samsung’s Galaxy AI works both on-device and in the cloud, but it’s unclear whether there will be a distinction between the two services. Some Galaxy AI features require an internet connection and a Samsung account. As the use of AI tools becomes more widespread, delivering heavy-duty AI services in the cloud can become costly.

Will Samsung be able to make Galaxy AI so appealing that consumers will feel a fervent need to buy the service?

Updated: Sunday, January 21st: Galaxy AI has made an impressive debut and will form a key part of the Galaxy S24 story, but the new phone will only get a small amount of exclusivity. The South Korean company has confirmed its intention to cascade Galaxy AI to older phones.

Talk to Android authoritiesA spokesperson said, “Many of the Galaxy AI features introduced in the Galaxy S24 will also be rolled out to previous models including the Galaxy S23 series, Galaxy S23 FE, Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Flip 5, and Galaxy Tab S9 series within the first half of 2024. This will be supported. Please stay tuned for further details.”

Galaxy AI is considered a standalone product available across the Galaxy series, reducing its impact on the Galaxy S24 family. These may be Samsung’s first AI-powered smartphones, but the appeal of upgrading from an older phone is waning…it depends on what AI features overcome it and at what cost.

Update: Monday, January 22nd: One of the biggest problems Samsung has in convincing users to sign up for paywalled artificial intelligence is that all AI services on Galaxy devices are part of the Galaxy platform. It’s not exclusive. One of the standout demonstrations at Galaxy Unpacked was the “Circle To Search” feature, which lets you highlight anything on the screen with the S Pen stylus and then search for it online.

I’m confident that this tool will never get past Samsung’s paywall. Actually a Google tool. It will be available on the Galaxy S24 family of phones, which will go on general sale at the end of January. This was reported by renowned critic Mishal Rahman. Circle To Search will also be available on Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro on January 31st.

Consumer trust is essential to getting the most out of AI. How consumers navigate, who provides the AI, which services use which data, and how to limit the use of service “A” over service “B”. This could be one of the most difficult issues to understand during 2025.

AI is a broad term that refers to several software tools. It’s hard to tell which will be successful, which will be niche, and which will fail in the next six months, let alone two years from now. Samsung may not have made a final decision on the role of Galaxy AI as part of its 2026 plans, which means that the qualifying conditions regarding potential service degradation are important, as seen here. means.

Unfortunately, question marks remain over the long-term plans for the Galaxy S24 family and Galaxy AI software.

Samsung has been contacted for comment. This article will be updated if we receive a response.