Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
“ Look , dude , I do n’t know how they are going to manage the costs of licensing from AI companies and cloud partnership , among other associated factors . Nothing comes free . ” That ’s what a machine learning engine driver tell apart me a few sidereal day ago when I explain to him how Qualcomm and MediaTek are make for some neat reproductive AI magic trick to phones .
Well , Samsung hasconfirmedthose fears and softly cut down the bombshell that at least some of its snazzy AI trick for theGalaxy S24 series phoneswill eventually require you to cough up some cash . That ’s going to take place next year , but we do n’t know how much you ’ll have to pay and in what way — at least not decently now .
Andy Boxall / Digital Trends
The company unloaded a whole gang of AI - driven features for its flagship phones atyesterday ’s bragging Unpacked event . Google separately announce that these earpiece will also be running theGemini Nano model on - equipment , a procedure that speed up tasks as there is no cloud processing involve . Personal datum also never impart the gadget .
The search giant also announce that Samsung will be test a cloud - tethered rendering of the Gemini Pro speech model and is also among the first brands that will try out with the most powerful Gemini Ultra model later this class . Those are foresighted - term partnerships with few immediate benefits at this second .
But some of those Galaxy AI feature — such as real - time version in phone calls , generative AI trope handling , and note management — are practically amazing . It was surprising to see that even a brand like Google – which arguably sits atop the public ’s largest data point set , has elevate LLM innovation , and makes keen devices – has n’t pushed them to its own Pixel speech sound .
Samsung deliver on its “ Galaxy AI ” promises in a resonant fashion , pave the agency for what analyst call the arriver of “ AI phones . ” What Samsung did n’t proudly proclaim , or even hint at , was the fact that some of these AI features will finally be money . Sneaky , Samsung !
“ Galaxy AI features will be provide for devoid until the end of 2025 on supported Samsung Galaxy twist . Different terms may practice for AI features provide by third parties , ” says Samsung ’s prescribed product page . That ’s a rather undefined explanation to enwrap one ’s head around .
Somebody require to pay up , but how on the button ?
It ’s because Samsung has n’t specified exactly which AI boast it developed in - theatre and which it developed in quislingism with Google , Qualcomm , and AI labs . That ’s a important query to postulate , as that would dictate who is locomote to collect the AI fee from Galaxy S24 buyers .
Then there ’s the question of whether AI feature bring home the bacon by Qualcomm as a packet deal with itsSnapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipwill also trickle down to food market - lock in Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus variants with the in - house Exynos 2400 form . The solution is belike no , but we ’ll make out soon .
Take , for example , text edition - to - image coevals . Qualcomm recently demonstrated an on - equipment word of mouth where the Stable Diffusion example was able to generate an image in less than a second . There ’s a moderately elaborate technical paper on how Qualcomm managed to optimise the image creation work flow and convey it to devices power by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 silicon .
What Qualcomm did n’t explain is how exactly the chipmaker ’s partnership with Stability AI , the maker of Stable Diffusion , is spread out financially in the background . Specifically , who is pay for the intact procreative AI infrastructure at play here ? Did Qualcomm absorb the price , or did the cost of its flagship smartphone silicon once again go up because of its AI exploitation price and partnerships ?
After all , theGalaxy S24 Ultrais a good for you $ 100 more expensive liken to its predecessor , so that is a possibleness . And if Qualcomm is brag such reproductive AI tricks as a key selling point for its flagship processor , has Samsung inked a similar partnership with Stability ( or any other AI laboratory of its like ) to extend the same capability on Exynos - power variants of the Galaxy S24 series earphone ?
It’s worryingly uncertain out there
Samsung has n’t say much about the on - twist generative AI capability of the Exynos 2400 , certainly not with the same sort of feverish marketing brouhaha as Qualcomm . The official Exynos 2400product pagementions “ on - equipment AI , ” but does n’t provide many details about its feature article coif and carrying out .
“ Fix photograph on the fly . Turn text commands into stunning images from anywhere . understand between speech in tangible time , ” it say . Samsung has demoed those features already for the Galaxy S24 , but there ’s a bunch more that the Exynos 2400 merchandise Sir Frederick Handley Page does n’t say , especially when it come to catching up with the AI tricks Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 has been flaunting
Digital Trends has reached out to Samsung seeking more details on exactly how much Samsung is going to charge Galaxy S24 drug user for using generative AI features , which of those Galaxy AI features will incur a fee , and how the road ahead for on - gimmick AI unfolds for Galaxy smartphones .
But at the moment , it seems that on - gimmick procreative AI could very well unleash yet another subscription the pits for smartphone vendee . And given how much beguiling they are , a healthy cluster of flagship phone buyers could very well pay up . It ’s just disappointing that such signature tune lineament would incur an spare fee after phone buyers already ante up top dollar for the ironware .
