Samsung's Ballie at-home robot to be powered by Google Cloud generative AI technology

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Samsung Ballie is described as a "home AI companion robot" that will arrive in the United States and Korea this summer. The company confirmed this week that Google Cloud's generative AI technology will power the AI side of the cute robot. This will allow owners to communicate with Ballie using natural conversational language for all their companion robot needs.

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Suppose you're wondering what Ballie is about outside of rolling around and looking like a cute robot from a Star Wars or Pixar film. In that case, it's essentially a range of generative AI tools and functionality paired with an inbuilt projector. Plus, it can do things like greet guests, adjust smart home things like lighting and cooling, and set reminders for appointments and things. A robot butler that doesn't serve food or do any cleaning.

Samsung's description of how Ballie will use cloud-based AI is vague - though it provides some examples. Yongjae Kim, Executive Vice President of the Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics, states that Ballie "moves with users, anticipates their needs, and interacts in more dynamic and meaningful ways than ever before," thanks to generative AI.

This partnership with Google pairs Gemini with proprietary Samsung language models for processing inputs, audio, voice, and visual data. This means that what Ballie sees will be transmitted to the cloud for processing and real-time responses. As expected, Samsung offers an innocuous example of how an interaction might play out. Not sure what to wear to work today or to lunch with friends? Ballie will take a look at you and respond with style recommendations.

Another more detailed example would be to let Ballie monitor your sleeping patterns or provide general well-being advice from "trusted sources." This partnership with Google extends what we've seen with Gemini being integrated into Samsung's Galaxy S24 smartphones.

"With Gemini on Google Cloud, Samsung is demonstrating how to deploy generative AI at scale, integrating it directly into the heart of their popular products," said Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud. "This expanded partnership with Samsung underscores our commitment to delivering reliable, enterprise-grade AI that drives lasting value for our customers - and their customers."

There's no denying that Samsung Ballie could be valuable; however, it does feel a little premature to ask a rolling-ball robot for medical advice. We would have assumed we were still a decade or two away from that.