Prime Highlights:
- Samsung launches the Galaxy S26 with advanced Gemini AI that can independently operate third-party apps, marking a major leap in smartphone intelligence.
- Google gains a strong early advantage in the AI race as its Gemini powers real-world features before Apple rolls out its upgraded Siri.
Key Facts:
- The Galaxy S26 integrates three AI systems, Gemini, Perplexity, and Bixby, creating a multi-agent setup for improved user assistance.
- Gemini can now perform tasks like booking rides on Uber and is expected to expand to services such as Instacart and DoorDash.
Background:
Samsung introduced its Galaxy S26 series, placing Google’s Gemini artificial intelligence at the center of its latest flagship smartphones and escalating the competition in the global AI-driven mobile market.
The new device allows Gemini to autonomously operate third-party apps, marking the first time the AI system can complete tasks inside services such as ride-hailing platform Uber without direct user interaction. Users can ask the assistant to book a ride, and the AI handles the process in the background, navigating screens and confirming details on its own.
The launch gives Google an early advantage as it prepares to supply Gemini models for a revamped Siri on Apple devices. Apple announced in January that it had signed a multiyear agreement, reportedly worth $1 billion annually, to integrate Gemini into Siri. However, recent reports suggest some features may be delayed beyond the initially expected spring rollout.
With the S26, Samsung is combining three AI systems in one device: Google’s Gemini for complex, cross-app tasks; Perplexity for web-based search queries; and an upgraded version of Samsung’s Bixby powered by its own large language model. The company describes this as a multi-agent approach designed to give users faster and more capable assistance.
Samsung will open general sales of the S26 on March 11 after beginning pre-orders this week. The S26 Ultra model also introduces what the company calls the mobile industry’s first built-in Privacy Display, designed to limit screen visibility from side angles.
The launch comes amid shifting market leadership in the smartphone sector. Apple overtook Samsung as the world’s top smartphone seller in 2024, ending Samsung’s more than decade-long lead. According to Counterpoint Research, Apple holds roughly 25% of the global active smartphone base compared with Samsung’s 18%.
Despite Apple’s larger installed base, Samsung has become a key distribution channel for Gemini’s consumer rollout. The company said it has reached 400 million Galaxy AI-enabled devices worldwide and expects to double the number of Gemini-powered mobile devices to 800 million this year.
As Apple works to modernize Siri, Samsung’s S26 offers consumers an early look at how Gemini-powered assistants may function in daily use, handling tasks across multiple apps and moving beyond simple voice commands to active digital assistance.