Samsung Revives Bixby with Perplexity AI Enhancements

Samsung has announced plans to revive its Bixby voice assistant with significant AI enhancements, integrating technology from Perplexity AI to enable more natural conversations and advanced device controls. The updated Bixby will debut in beta form as part of the One UI 8.5 software update for select Galaxy smartphones, with a stable release expected alongside the Galaxy S26 series in late February.

The move comes as Samsung seeks to bolster its in-house assistant amid growing competition in AI-driven features. While the company has prominently featured Google's Gemini AI on recent devices like the Galaxy S25 series, this partnership with Perplexity introduces web-powered search capabilities directly into Bixby. Users will be able to pose complex queries, such as finding nearby restaurants specializing in burgers or cafes for coffee, and receive detailed results with text and graphics within the assistant's interface, without needing to launch a separate browser.

At its core, the revamped Bixby emphasizes intuitive interactions. It will process natural language commands to adjust device settings seamlessly. For example, a user could say, "I don't want the screen to time out...