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What you need to know

• Samsung leaves a surprise by launching the promised redesign for Bixby in an overseas foldable launch.

• The debut brings generative AI features to Bixby, like on-screen translation, better understanding of “complex” queries, and more.

• Samsung’s TM Roh said the company was aiming for a “late 2024” launch, which has happened for China; however, it is unclear when it will arrive in the United States

Since the Galaxy AI’s debut, Samsung has slowly upgraded its built-in assistant, Bixby, but it seems the major AI overhaul has arrived for a foreign market.

Samsung launched its next wave of foldables in China: the W25 and the W25 Flip, alternatives to the Fold’s Special Edition and the Galaxy Z Flip 6. However, as spotted SamMobileThe Korean OEM’s debut included the surprise inclusion of its “next-gen” AI assistant on the device, Bixby.

From the launch page, Samsung seems to have strengthened Bixby’s ability to understand what the user wants And their ability to understand the content.

Regarding the former, the company says its next-generation Bixby can “understand complex user intentions” (automatically translated). This could be similar to what Google did for its AI Insights. Samsung says Bixby can “deeply perceive” what a user wants, as well as maintain precise understanding through multi-step instructions in “a single sentence.”

Samsung has also upgraded Bixby with more powerful and “accurate” on-screen translation capabilities. Mandarin is likely fully supported given the launch of these devices in the Chinese market. Samsung added that it would expand its language support for Bixby’s on-screen translation feature, but no timeline was detailed.

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Bixby’s content understanding capabilities also extend to videos. According to Samsung, Bixby can “intelligently integrate text and videos” from online sources. The company says this should give users better context about where they can travel to.

Finally, Gen AI upgrades bring “office document generation”. The OEM states that Bixby can generate Word, PowerPoint, and “other documents based on user needs.”

In July, Samsung confirmed that a major overhaul of its built-in Bixby assistant was underway. The company’s head of mobile business, TM Roh, said such advancements with its AI are a “driver” for consumer interest and “convenience.” The upgrade focused on channeling generative AI features to its assistant, which were previously rumored to have been influenced by ChatGPT.

Roh said Samsung was interested in launching such advancements “later in 2024” and it appears to have met that estimate. It’s unclear when other markets, like the US, might see this improved Gen AI version of Bixby. It’s possible that it could appear alongside the Galaxy S25 series next year with One UI 7, but we’re only speculating.

Currently, Galaxy S24 users can play with a smaller Bixby update, which brought hands-free capabilities to AI. Samsung highlighted these features in February, saying users can take advantage of live translation, spelling correction, web page summaries, and file organization without lifting a finger. Users can kick off their hands-free experience with “Hi Bixby…”