One thing you’ll notice with every ‘free’ AI service is that it eventually transitions to paid features. Samsung’s Galaxy AI appears to be no different, with the South Korean company dropping the first hints that you’ll eventually have to give it more money (probably on a monthly basis) to get upcoming functions to work.
That doesn’t mean you can discard your Galaxy AI-featuring smartphone in disgust right now — the existing set of ‘free’ functions appears to be staying free. For a while at least. Anything new, though? That could be another matter entirely.
Paying Samsung’s price
The folks over at SammyFans found one of Samsung’s lovely little asterisk points lurking on the company’s US Newsroom outlining possible changes. It seems that Galaxy AI basic features (those provided by the company, anyway) will remain free.
However, “Any Samsung enhanced AI features and all third-party AI features are subject to different terms and may be subject to fees.” That doesn’t mean that an AI subscription is a certainty if you favour the Galaxy range, but it leaves the door open to charging for access to something expensive. It’s more likely a little CYA, since third-party AI functions tend to change with little notice.
What the listing doesn’t do is reveal what, if anything, could be charged for in the future. There’s a Galaxy S26 launch coming up shortly, and Samsung will probably unveil any new artificial intelligence functions there. If there are new third-party apps using the tech, expect them to have a limited shelf life unless you open your wallet wide. The same goes for anything new (and hopefully awesome) from Samsung itself.
