Samsung adds Perplexity AI to Galaxy phones despite copyright infringement controversy

Samsung to Integrate Perplexity AI Into Upcoming Flagship Devices

Samsung Electronics will integrate the Perplexity AI search engine into its upcoming flagship devices, expanding its Galaxy AI platform to support multiple artificial intelligence agents. The tool will work alongside native applications including Samsung Notes, Clock, Gallery, Reminder, and Calendar.

While a specific list has not yet been released, the company confirmed that certain third-party applications will also support the integration. The announcement comes just ahead of Samsung’s scheduled Galaxy Unpacked event.

Users can activate the AI assistant through physical shortcuts or by using the voice command "Hey Plex." Won-Joon Choi, a senior executive at Samsung, said the expansion aims to provide users with greater choice and flexibility. Choi described Galaxy AI as a "conductor" that harmonizes different types of AI into a single, seamless experience.

This move follows a partnership established last year to integrate Perplexity’s search tools into Samsung smart TVs.

However, the collaboration arrives as Perplexity faces mounting legal challenges over its data-scraping practices and alleged copyright violations. The AI company was hit with lawsuits from Merriam-Webster and Encyclopedia Britannica in September.

Samsung Electronics’ decision to integrate Perplexity AI into its mobile ecosystem represents a calculated, albeit high-stakes, pivot in the global smartphone arms race. By moving beyond its proprietary Bixby assistant and Google’s Gemini, Samsung is charting a "third way" through a partnership with one of the industry's most disruptive—and legally embattled—startups.

The strategic rationale is clear: Perplexity offers sophisticated real-time search and conversational capabilities that often outperform traditional virtual assistants. By positioning itself as an "orchestrator" of diverse AI models, Samsung is signaling a shift toward an open, flexible ecosystem. This serves as a direct counter-maneuver to Apple’s "walled garden" approach, shifting the competitive landscape from hardware specifications like camera quality and display tech toward integrated on-device intelligence.

However, the strategy carries significant operational and legal exposure. On a product level, the proliferation of overlapping assistants—Bixby, Google Assistant, and now Perplexity—risks creating a fragmented and redundant user experience. More critically, Samsung is tethering its prestige to a company currently embroiled in high-profile intellectual property litigation.

Perplexity faces a litany of copyright infringement lawsuits from major publishers over its data-scraping practices. Should the startup face adverse rulings or be forced to fundamentally overhaul its information-retrieval model, the functionality of Samsung’s Galaxy lineup could be severely compromised. For the South Korean tech giant, this is a quintessential high-beta play: a chance to secure a first-mover advantage in generative AI search, tempered by the looming threat of secondary legal liability and brand contagion.

For Vietnamese Americans, the integration of new AI features promises a more streamlined experience, whether they are managing a nail salon in Little Saigon or keeping track of complex F2B and H-1B visa documents. However, the prospect of juggling multiple virtual assistants on a single device could prove more confusing than convenient for the average user. Ultimately, the decision to upgrade will depend on whether this technology offers tangible benefits for daily life—such as simplifying remittances or organizing EB-5 and TPS paperwork—compared to the existing ecosystem provided by Apple.