Samsung, Google AI Partnership In The Works: Bixby, Google Assistant Compatibility Hinted?

Samsung is expected to replace its S-Voice functionality with an artificially intelligent Bixby voice assistant in its upcoming S8 device. But, how would Bixby fare in comparison with Google Assistant — the U.S. tech giant's Artificial Intelligence enabled voice assistant?

“Samsung and Google will have to continue to maintain their strategic partnership to nurture the AI and the market for the emerging technology,” Lee Kyeong-Tae, corporate strategy planning vice-president, Samsung Electronics told The Investor on Tuesday.

Samsung has in the past come out with devices having two voice assistants, S-Voice and Google Voice. But this time, the company seems to have different plans for Bixby. The voice assistant is expected to be integrated throughout the S8 interface including individual apps. While the company hasn’t clearly spelt out its plans, Bixby’s compatibility with Android software features is important for this.

The Samsung executive's conversation hints at the company collaborating with Google on AI rather than competing with it. The exact outcome of this collaboration and its effect on both companies’ voice assistants is not known yet.

Google was previously rumored to request Samsung to avoid conflicting Bixby with Assistant. Besides Samsung, tech companies such as Amazon, LG, Honor and HTC either have, or are working on, their own Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled voice assistants.