According to PYMNTS.com, in his first interview since becoming co-CEO in November, Samsung’s T.M. Roh told Reuters on Monday, January 5, that the company aims to double its number of AI-powered devices this year. The plan is to go from about 400 million smartphones and tablets with AI features in 2023 to a staggering 800 million in 2024. These features are powered by Google’s Gemini AI model. Roh stated the goal is to apply AI to “all products, all functions, and all services as quickly as possible,” seeing it as a key edge over rivals. He also revealed that awareness of Samsung’s Galaxy AI brand jumped from 30% to 80% in just one year, and he expects AI adoption to accelerate wildly within six to twelve months.
Samsung’s Big Android Bet
Here’s the thing: this isn’t just a Samsung story. It’s a massive win for Google. By committing to bake Gemini into hundreds of millions of new devices, Samsung is essentially turning its entire flagship ecosystem into a giant distribution channel for Google’s AI. Think about it. While OpenAI has ChatGPT and its app, Google now has a direct pipeline into the pockets of a huge chunk of Android users. This is the platform war playing out in real time. Samsung gets a killer software feature to fight Apple’s on-device AI, and Google gets scale it desperately needs to compete in the consumer AI race. It’s a classic symbiotic tech partnership, but the stakes are higher now.
What Do Users Actually Want?
Roh’s comments are interesting because they hint at what’s sticking. Search is the top use, which is no surprise—that’s Google’s bread and butter. But then he mentions generative AI editing, productivity tools, translation, and summarization. Basically, the practical, daily-driver stuff. Not the “write me a sonnet” novelty, but the “clean up this photo” or “summarize this article” utility. That feels right. The flashy, creative AI gets headlines, but the boring, helpful AI might be what actually keeps people using it. The challenge? Making these tools feel indispensable and not just a gimmick you try once and forget. Can AI truly become the new default way we interact with our devices?
The Wider AI Ecosystem Shift
This aggressive hardware push is part of a much bigger shift. The PYMNTS article also touches on Google’s vision for “agentic AI” in retail—AI that can reason and act more autonomously. That’s the endgame. We’re moving from AI as a feature you tap, to AI as the underlying agent that handles tasks for you. Samsung blanketing the market with AI-capable hardware is step one in creating the installed base for that future. It primes the pump. For developers and enterprises, the message is clear: the infrastructure is being deployed at a breathtaking pace. The tools are coming. Now, what are you going to build on top of it? The race for the next set of killer AI-native apps is officially on, and the playing field is being set by giants like Samsung and Google Cloud.
The Competition Won’t Sleep
Let’s be real, though. Doubling down on AI is table stakes now. Apple is quietly building its own on-device AI empire, likely to be unveiled soon. Chinese manufacturers are no slouches either. So while Samsung’s 800 million target sounds huge, it’s really about keeping pace. The real test will be in execution. Will these AI features work seamlessly? Will they be genuinely useful, or just a checkbox for marketing? Roh admitted the tech might “seem a bit doubtful right now.” That’s a refreshing bit of honesty. But he’s betting that doubt turns to dependence within a year. It’s a high-stakes gamble on the speed of consumer adoption. One thing’s for sure: our phones are about to get a lot more chatty.
