Samsung Galaxy S26 to Feature Perplexity AI as Built-In Smart Assistant

Samsung Electronics is reportedly close to finalizing a significant investment in Perplexity AI, aiming to incorporate the startup’s advanced search and AI technology into its device ecosystem. Sources familiar with the talks reveal that Samsung and Perplexity are exploring ways to pre-install Perplexity’s app and virtual assistant on future Samsung devices.

The discussions also include integrating Perplexity’s AI capabilities into Samsung’s existing Bixby voice assistant. It is expected that Samsung will announce these enhancements later this year, with the ultimate goal of making Perplexity-powered features the default virtual assistant on the upcoming Galaxy S26 series, scheduled for release in the first half of 2026.

Bloomberg News reported that the two companies began partnership talks earlier this year. Samsung is also expected to play a key role as a major investor in Perplexity’s upcoming funding round, which aims to raise $500 million at a valuation of $14 billion. This collaboration could help Samsung diversify its AI ecosystem and reduce reliance on Google, following a strategy similar to Apple’s approach of integrating multiple AI technologies.

Introducing Perplexity Labs: Advanced AI for Smarter Research

Perplexity has launched Perplexity Labs, a powerful AI tool designed to help users efficiently explore and analyze online data. This feature automates complex research tasks by generating dynamic dashboards, tables, and spreadsheets, leveraging advanced generative AI to do the heavy lifting.

According to Perplexity’s official blog, “Using Perplexity is like having an always-available answer engine, while Labs feels like working with a full team. A Perplexity Lab empowers anyone to transform a concept into a fully-realized project.”

Perplexity Labs can be assigned detailed research tasks. Once given a prompt, it performs web searches using its proprietary engine, writes and executes its own code, and presents the findings visually through interactive charts, graphs, and live data dashboards.

Currently, Perplexity Labs is available on Android, iOS, and web platforms. Mac and Windows desktop versions are expected soon as part of Perplexity’s native apps. This advanced feature is exclusive to Perplexity Pro subscribers, priced at $20 per month (approximately Rs 1,711).