Samsung is adding Perplexity’s AI assistant to Galaxy AI, starting with the upcoming Galaxy S26 series, and positioning it as part of a new “multi-agent” strategy that lets users access multiple AI systems on the same device.
Adding Perplexity to Galaxy AI is either the most user-friendly AI decision in phones this year, or the beginning of “why does my phone have three assistants arguing” season. I’m leaning optimistic, mostly because Samsung is finally admitting the obvious: no single AI wins every task.
For the past year, every big tech company has been acting like their AI is the main character. Apple has its on-device plus OpenAI hybrid story. Google is pushing Gemini everywhere. Samsung has been juggling Bixby and Gemini under the Galaxy AI umbrella.
Now Samsung is saying: fine. You want another one? Here is Perplexity too. That is not confusion. That is leverage.
What’s Actually New (And Why It’s Not Just an App Install)
Starting with the Galaxy S26 series, Perplexity will be integrated directly into Galaxy AI. You will be able to wake it with “Hey Plex” and access it through system controls like the side button.
But the real story is deeper integration. Samsung says Perplexity will work across core apps like Notes, Calendar, Reminder, Clock, and Gallery. That is not surface-level chatbot territory. That is proper system-level hooks.
And when an AI gets system-level hooks, it stops being something you ask questions and starts being something that does things.
Perplexity is known for research-style responses with citations. It is strong in structured answers and summarisation. That is a very different personality from Gemini or Bixby. Samsung is not just adding another voice. It is adding another capability layer.
The Multi-Agent Strategy Is the Real Headline
Samsung is calling this a “multi-agent ecosystem.” Let us translate that. Galaxy AI becomes the orchestration layer. Underneath it, you can have different AI agents handling different tasks. Instead of pretending one model is perfect at everything, Samsung is building a framework where multiple AIs coexist.
And here is the thing no one wants to say out loud: this reflects how people already behave. Most power users do not usually stick to one AI. We jump between them. One for research. One for writing. One for device actions. One for something niche. Samsung is formalising that chaos into a feature. That is smart.
But I still have my doubts about this whole ecosystem. I mean, If you now have “Hey Google,” “Hey Bixby,” and “Hey Plex” floating around your phone… are we confident this won’t turn into assistant chaos?
Who wakes up when you say “Hey…” vaguely? Which one handles default tasks? What happens when two assistants overlap in capabilities? Multiple assistants sound powerful in theory. In practice, it can turn into friction very quickly.
The success of this strategy will not be determined by Perplexity’s intelligence. It will be determined by how seamless the experience feels. If switching agents feels intentional and fluid, Samsung wins. If it feels like juggling AI personalities, people will turn most of it off.
The Bigger Business Play
If you actually start looking at this whole thing from a business point of view, this is also Samsung quietly reducing dependency on Google. Gemini is not going anywhere. But by integrating Perplexity deeply into Galaxy AI, Samsung ensures it is not locked into a single AI partner’s roadmap.
That is negotiating power. Samsung becomes the platform. The AI companies become modular providers. That’s a very different power structure from “Google owns Android’s intelligence.”
And for Perplexity, this is massive distribution. Being built into system apps is not the same as being another Play Store download. Most users never go hunting for alternative AI tools. But they absolutely use what’s already embedded in the OS. This is how AI companies go mainstream.
Now let us talk about the part that matters. If Perplexity can access Notes, Calendar, Gallery, and other core apps, users will want to know what is processed on-device and what is sent to the cloud.
Deep integration is what makes this powerful. Deep integration is also what makes it sensitive.
Samsung will need to make permissions transparent and granular. Because once you let third-party AI agents inside system-level workflows, trust becomes the product.
I don’t think “Hey Plex” will sell millions of Galaxy S26 units on its own. But I do think Samsung is ahead of Apple and Google in one crucial way right now. It is embracing AI pluralism. Instead of betting everything on one assistant, it is building a framework where assistants compete inside its ecosystem. That is bold.
The real question is whether Galaxy AI becomes a clean conductor of multiple intelligent agents… or a noisy room where three AIs wake up every time you clear your throat.
If Samsung gets this right, Galaxy AI stops being a marketing term and becomes an actual platform advantage. If they get it wrong, we will all be shouting “Hey” into our phones like confused parents trying to remember which kid’s name to call. Either way, this is not a small update. It is a structural shift.
