Report: Samsung nears Perplexity deal, could be ‘a default’ on the Galaxy S26

Ben Schoon | Jun 3 2025 - 8:10 am PT

According to a new report, Samsung may start emphasizing Perplexity over Gemini with its Galaxy S26 series next year.

Bloomberg reports that Samsung is nearing a “wide-ranging” deal with Perplexity that would bring a number of changes to Galaxy phones. This may include:

Pre-loading Galaxy phones with the Perplexity app
Integrate Perplexity into Samsung Internet
Upgrading Bixby with Perplexity’s tech
Making Perplexity “a default assistant option” on Galaxy S26
Building “an AI-infused operating system”

A deal between the two companies bringing Perplexity to Samsung Galaxy devices as a pre-installed app would be nothing particularly new. Perplexity landed its first deal of this nature with Motorola earlier this year. At the time, Google confirmed that there is “nothing” stopping such a deal. Motorola did not replace Gemini with Perplexity as the default assistant on its Razr series, though.

Samsung moving to replace Gemini with Perplexity on Galaxy devices would certainly mark a massive shift, as much of Samsung’s Galaxy AI push has been built on new features in Gemini. On the other hand, though, it sounds like Samsung wants to leverage Perplexity within its own services, which would provide some independence from Google and build an experience that is more truly “Galaxy AI.” At this point, though, nothing is finalized.

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Bloomberg explains:

The two companies are in talks to preload Perplexity’s app and assistant on upcoming Samsung devices and integrate the startup’s search features into the Samsung web browser, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The firms have also discussed weaving Perplexity’s technology into Samsung’s Bixby virtual assistant, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private.

Samsung is planning to announce the Perplexity integrations as early as this year, the people said, with the goal of including the service as a default assistant option in the Galaxy S26 phone line that’s slated to launch in the first half of 2026. However, the specific details haven’t been finalized and could still change.