Samsung’s latest flagship, the Galaxy S26 series, has officially landed, placing Alphabet’s Gemini artificial intelligence at the forefront of its mobile strategy. This move grants Google’s AI technology a significant presence in the smartphone market, just as it’s anticipated to power a revamped Siri on Apple’s iPhones.
The S26 stands out for its sophisticated integration of multiple AI engines. Samsung is harmonizing Google’s Gemini for agentic tasks like booking transportation and cross-app functionalities, Perplexity for web-based inquiries, and an enhanced version of its own Bixby, powered by a more robust in-house large language model, as the on-device assistant. This multi-agent approach underscores the intense AI competition in the smartphone sector and Samsung’s strategy of diversifying its AI partnerships rather than relying on a single provider.
Samsung’s relationship with Google, however, remains paramount. The company was the first to deploy Gemini with the Galaxy S24 in January 2024. This integration deepened with the S25, granting Gemini access via a long-press of the side button. The S26 takes this a step further, enabling Gemini to perform autonomous actions within third-party applications, a capability previously limited to Samsung’s own software. This evolution comes after years of Samsung’s efforts to establish independence through its Tizen operating system and Bixby assistant, highlighting how the AI era has fostered closer ties between the two tech giants, even as Samsung simultaneously explores options with Perplexity. Consequently, Samsung has emerged as a critical distribution channel for Google’s consumer AI, a position Apple, despite its substantial investment in Gemini, has yet to replicate.
**The Arrival of an Upgraded Siri**
In January, Apple confirmed a multiyear agreement, reportedly valued at $1 billion annually, to utilize Google’s Gemini models as the foundation for a significantly upgraded Siri. However, the rollout timeline for this enhancement has faced delays. Initial plans for an iOS 26.4 update in March or April have reportedly been pushed back, with some features now slated for May or even September, according to recent reports.
The Samsung S26, available for pre-order with general availability on March 11, means that Gemini’s most advanced agentic features will reach consumers first through Samsung devices. While Apple holds a larger share of the global smartphone market, with roughly 25% of active devices compared to Samsung’s 18%, and iPhone users generally demonstrate higher spending on apps and services, the Samsung deal represents a crucial proving ground for Google’s AI. It serves as a live demonstration of the technology that will eventually bolster Siri’s capabilities.
**Leveraging the Samsung Agent**
Samsung’s marketing efforts for the S26 heavily emphasize agentic AI, with Gemini as the driving force. Charles Uptegrove, a product manager for Samsung’s flagship devices in the U.S., explained that the AI assistant can seamlessly interact with native Samsung applications such as Calendar, Reminder, and Samsung Notes. Users can, for instance, instruct Gemini to find and add an event to their calendar or summarize content from a YouTube video and save it to Samsung Notes.
A prominent example of this functionality is its integration with Uber. Users can engage Gemini, request a ride, and the AI will manage the entire booking process in the background—opening the app, selecting options, and navigating screens—allowing the user to multitask. Samsung plans to extend this capability to other ride-sharing services and eventually to food delivery platforms like Instacart and DoorDash. This represents a significant advancement from the S25, where Gemini’s interactions were confined to Samsung’s proprietary apps. The S26’s AI agent can now orchestrate multi-step tasks across third-party services.
It is important to contextualize Samsung’s market position. Apple surpassed Samsung as the world’s top smartphone vendor in 2024, ending Samsung’s long-standing market dominance. Recent analyses suggest iPhone shipments are projected to exceed Samsung’s for the first time in 14 years.
Beyond its AI capabilities, the S26 Ultra introduces the industry’s first integrated Privacy Display, which controls light dispersion from individual pixels to enhance screen readability for the user while obscuring the content from side-viewing angles. Samsung has reported approximately 400 million Galaxy AI-enabled devices globally and anticipates doubling its mobile devices powered by Gemini to 800 million units this year. However, for Google, the most critical metric remains the timeline for Apple’s Siri overhaul.
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