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Bixby\u2019s not dead yet, apparently. A Samsung executive tells CNBC<\/a> that the company is \u201cworking so hard\u201d to equip its voice assistant with AI features, suggesting that the company sees the likes of Gemini<\/a> as competition \u2014 not a replacement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n That\u2019s good to know, because some of us were starting to wonder. Earlier this year<\/a> as Samsung announced a boatload of new generative AI features for its flagship phones, its voice assistant was scarcely mentioned. Samsung and Google also made a big deal about the Galaxy S24 phones using Gemini Nano \u2014 Google\u2019s on-device AI model. It wouldn\u2019t have been a stretch to see Samsung replace Bixby with Google\u2019s Gemini-powered assistant, but apparently, that\u2019s not the plan. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Samsung\u2019s Won-joon Choi, executive vice president of mobile, said to CNBC, \u201cI believe that we have to redefine the role of the Bixby, so that Bixby could be equipped with generative AI,\u201d adding that it would need to be \u201csmarter\u201d and able to converse more naturally. As it stands, Samsung isn\u2019t the only tech company scrambling to incorporate AI into its voice assistant \u2014 Apple is expected to announce an AI-ified Siri<\/a> at this year\u2019s WWDC.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In the meantime, the Galaxy S24\u2019s AI features made their way to last year\u2019s phones by way of a One UI 6.1 update<\/a>. Galaxy AI, as the whole package is called, is free for now. If Samsung does plan to charge for its AI features in the future<\/a>, it\u2019ll have to offer a lot more than what it\u2019s capable of now. Whatever that vision looks like, Bixby appears to be part of it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n