Samsung has yet to jump on the AI bandwagon with Bixby. Despite rumors of the company giving its assistant an AI upgrade last year, it did not make any announcement on this front, with Bixby mostly missing from the scene. That’s changing now, with Samsung announcing that a smarter, more contextually-aware and conversational Bixby will debut in One UI 8.5.
The new AI-powered Bixby will allow you to control your Galaxy device using natural language, without needing to remember the exact settings or commands. In its announcement, Samsung shared an example where you can ask Bixby to keep the screen from timing out while you’re looking at it. The assistant will understand this and enable the relevant Keep Screen on While Viewing option.
Likewise, you can ask Bixby about certain device behavior. In another example shared by Samsung, if a user asks, “Why is my phone screen always on when it’s inside my pocket?” Bixby will understand the context and surface the relevant Accidental Touch Protection setting for them to take action on.
Credit: Samsung
The upgraded Bixby will also feature real-time web search powered by Perplexity, confirming its partnership with the AI startup. This will enable the voice assistant to pull information from the internet in real-time, allowing you to get more detailed information about different topics.
You can even ask Bixby to show cafés or restaurants with a specific cuisine, and it will not redirect you to a web browser to display the results. Instead, they will appear within the Bixby chat window itself.
Samsung will seemingly not allow voice-based app control through its voice assistant for now.
New Bixby coming with One UI 8.5
The new AI-powered Bixby will debut with One UI 8.5 later this year, likely arriving on the Galaxy S26 lineup in early March. At launch, it will be available only in select markets, with a broader rollout planned for later on.
If your Galaxy S25 is part of the One UI 8.5 beta program, it should supposedly gain access to the upgraded Bixby with the fourth beta. The new build could go live as early as this week.
