Samsung Electronics announced on February 21 that Perplexity will come pre-installed on the Galaxy S26 series as a system-level AI agent. Unlike a standard app download, Perplexity’s Sonar API connects directly to native Samsung applications including Notes, Clock, Gallery, Reminder, and Calendar. Users can invoke it via the wake phrase “Hey Plex” or by pressing and holding the side button, the same gesture that activates Bixby.
Dmitry Shevelenko, Perplexity’s Chief Business Officer, notes that this partnership signals the end of the “single walled-garden assistant”, explaining that Samsung built the Galaxy S26 from the ground up to support an open ecosystem where different AI models work together at the system level.
In practice, a Perplexity query can automatically save results to Notes, create a reminder mid-conversation, or add an event to Calendar, all without the user switching applications. That gives Perplexity access to a phone’s schedules, to-do lists, photos, and personal notes.
So essentially this is not a chatbot sitting inside a single app. It is access to the operating system, and that distinction sits at the centre of what Samsung attempts with this move.
Samsung Positions Itself as AI Orchestrator
Samsung’s announcement does not pitch Galaxy AI as a smarter assistant or a better chatbot. Rather, Won-Joon Choi, President and COO of Samsung’s Mobile eXperience business, said: “Galaxy AI acts as an orchestrator, bringing together different forms of AI into a single, natural, cohesive experience.”
Essentially, Samsung is not in the business of building the underlying model. Instead, it builds the device that holds all the models together.
The Distribution Play
Samsung’s own research shows nearly eight in 10 users now rely on more than two types of AI agents. Moreover, Co-CEO T.M. Roh told Reuters in January that the company targets 800 million Galaxy AI-enabled devices by end of 2026, double the 400 million it reached in 2025.
For an AI company looking to reach users at scale, there are few faster routes than a pre-install deal with Samsung. Perplexity, which launched only in 2022, now lands on one of the world’s most widely shipped Android devices out of the box.
Three Agents, No Clarity
A Galaxy S26 user who wants AI help now has three options on the same device: say “Hey Bixby,” say “Hey Google,” or say “Hey Plex”. Samsung has not explained what each agent handles, when one takes over from another, or what happens when their capabilities overlap. The announcement merely describes the experience as “seamless,” yet the details that would make it so have not arrived yet.
How This Differs From Apple’s Approach
Samsung’s multi-agent bet looks more deliberate when placed against what Apple does differently. As MediaNama reported in January, Apple and Google confirmed a partnership in which Gemini models will power Apple’s…
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