Major tech companies, including OpenAI and Google, are intensifying their efforts to collaborate with smartphone manufacturers as generative AI continues to revolutionize digital services. (Image courtesy of Kobiz Media)
SEOUL, Nov. 25 (Korea Bizwire) — Major tech companies, including OpenAI and Google, are intensifying their efforts to collaborate with smartphone manufacturers as generative AI continues to revolutionize digital services.
While AI applications have become a mainstay in desktop environments for tasks like document summarization and image generation, the mobile sector has yet to fully embrace the potential of AI, creating new opportunities for phone makers.
According to reports from the AI industry on Sunday, OpenAI, the developer behind ChatGPT, has been in discussions with Samsung Electronics about integrating its AI capabilities into Samsung’s Galaxy products. While Samsung has declined to confirm these talks, sources in the domestic AI industry suggest the discussions are indeed ongoing.
OpenAI’s GPT series has found significant success in PC environments, offering various productivity features and boosting subscriber growth. However, on mobile devices, AI applications have yet to offer the same level of functionality, such as large-scale document processing or high-quality image and video generation.
This gap is seen as a key reason behind the push for stronger collaboration between AI developers and smartphone manufacturers.
While apps like ChatGPT are already available for download on smartphones, the experience is not yet as seamless or versatile as on PCs. Integrating AI tools directly into mobile devices would make these services more accessible, with the added benefit of voice assistants, like Apple’s Siri or Samsung’s Bixby, serving as gateways to advanced AI features.
The push for tighter partnerships with mobile manufacturers is part of a broader strategy by big tech companies to secure a stronger foothold in the mobile AI market.
OpenAI, for instance, is seeking to collaborate with Apple, following delays in the release of Apple’s own AI intelligence system. Similarly, Samsung is looking to balance its AI partnership with Google, as it seeks to avoid the dominance of Apple’s ecosystem in the mobile AI space.
This evolving dynamic has disrupted the previously expected “Apple-OpenAI” and “Samsung-Google” alliances. An AI industry insider commented, “In the mobile sector, the battle for AI supremacy is fluid, with alliances shifting rapidly, making it unclear who will align with whom.”
Meanwhile, domestic companies in South Korea, who are lagging behind global tech giants in AI development, are also intensifying efforts to partner with smartphone manufacturers. LG Uplus, for example, plans to launch a Samsung smartphone next year preloaded with its AI-powered call assistant, “Ixi-O,” with plans to integrate it with Samsung’s Galaxy AI system.
In contrast, South Korea’s telecom companies, SK Telecom and KT, which are both developing AI assistants, have yet to finalize deeper collaborations with companies like Samsung or Apple for AI features, despite ongoing discussions.
As the AI landscape in mobile continues to evolve, it is clear that big tech and smartphone manufacturers are recalibrating their strategies to stay competitive in a rapidly changing market.
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
