Exclusive: Samsung to keep basic Galaxy AI features free, hints at paid premium tier

On the sidelines of the recent Galaxy Unpacked event in New York City, Won-Joon Choi, President and Head of Mobile eXperience Business at Samsung Electronics, offered crucial insights into the company's approach to monetising its Galaxy AI features. Addressing a direct question from Fortune India about whether users would eventually have to pay for AI on Galaxy devices, Choi firmly stated, "The basic AI features will remain free or come at no additional cost to the consumer."

While he did not elaborate on which features this would include, it appears that popular features like Live Translate, Note Assist, and Browse Assist, which enhance everyday smartphone use and are highly valued by consumers, should most likely continue to be accessible without charge. This move is designed to ensure widespread adoption, integrate AI seamlessly into the Galaxy experience, and cultivate a broad user base familiar with Galaxy AI. For Samsung, making these core AI features universally available is key to differentiating its devices and strengthening its ecosystem.

However, Choi's response also hinted at a more nuanced AI monetisation strategy for the tech giant. He added, "We are still in discussions about our policy on the premium AI experience that we are developing both on our own and in partnership with other companies." This clarifies previous signals, such as the "free until the end of 2025" mention for some features and the limited-time free access for "advanced features" on the newly unveiled Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7. These advanced capabilities, often leveraging Google's powerful Gemini models, appear to be strong candidates for future monetisation. This tiered approach will allow Samsung to cater to diverse user segments, capturing additional revenue from power users and professionals who are willing to pay for more sophisticated, resource-intensive AI functionalities like advanced generative photo editing or deep on-screen awareness.

Samsung's strategy is in line with broader industry trends. Google, a significant partner, already offers a multi-tiered subscription model for its AI services, setting a clear precedent for paid AI within the Android ecosystem. OpenAI, Perplexity and others have clearly segregated their free and premium plans for AI services.

For a dynamic market like India, where AI adoption is rapidly increasing and local language support is crucial, Samsung's approach is particularly relevant. The free core AI features will appeal to a broad consumer base, while a strategically introduced premium tier could capture value from users seeking advanced functionalities.

However, if the findings of CNET’s 2025 Smartphone Innovation Survey are anything to go by, charging for AI features might be a tricky move. As for now, the report suggests 50% of the people surveyed are not willing to pay extra for AI features. So, it might be a wiser approach to (at least initially) broaden the scope of features that are included as “basic AI features” and probably only charge for “premium” features like caption generation or advanced editing used by creators and power users.

Ultimately, Samsung Mobile’s AI strategy is deeply integrated with its broader business objectives, particularly the growth of its high-margin foldable segment. AI integration will transform these devices into productivity tools, demanding premium pricing in the hope of driving adoption.