In 2020, Samsung introduced Ballie, a little round yellow robot personal assistant. Five years later, the company has finally announced that it will be available for purchase this summer.
According to the South Korean tech giant, the retail version of Ballie is equipped with Google’s Gemini AI and will use Gemini’s multimodal capabilities, along with proprietary Samsung language models for processing and understanding inputs. This includes audio and voice, visual data from its camera, as well as sensor data collected from the surrounding environment, enabling it to adapt its behaviours and responses in real-time.
Samsung adds that the robot can reportedly use information trusted sources such as Google Search to provide the user advice specifically tailored to their needs such as how to improve the user’s energy levels. Essentially, Ballie is geared for assisting with the user’s health and wellbeing in addition to managing the home.
Samsung’s Yongjae Kim stated that by pairing Gemini’s powerful multimodal reasoning with Samsung’s AI capabilities in Ballie, they can unlock an new era of personalised AI companions that can move with users, anticipate their needs, and interact in more dynamic and meaningful ways than before. Meanwhile, Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian said the expanded partnership with Samsung underscores the company’s commitment to deliver reliable and enterprise-grade AI that provides lasting value.
Unfortunately, Ballie will only be available in the US and South Korea. though Samsung has yet to reveal its pricing. There is currently no indication of it being available in other markets in the future.
