Free No More? Samsung Opens Up About Galaxy AI's Future Beyond 2025

President of Samsung's Mobile Division T.M. Roh has finally shed some light on the company's plans with Galaxy AI after its free service ends in 2025.

Earlier this month, some hawk-eyed Samsung fans on X (formerly Twitter) discovered official Samsung web pages that indicated that the Galaxy AI features which arrived on the Galaxy S24 series will only be free of charge until 2025.

Now, Roh has elaborated on these previously reported rumours in an interview with ET Telecom. According to the top executive, Samsung will be providing AI capabilities free of cost to customers until 2025.

The future of Galaxy AI is full of potential

Despite acknowledging Samsung's substantial investment in Galaxy AI, Roh said no decision has been made for what happens after its free service period ends in 2025. So, the burning question on everyone's mind is whether the company will introduce subscription models or other options.

While nothing is set in stone yet, Roh indicated that more powerful AI features could be in the offing for those who are willing to pay a subscription fee.

"According to our analysis, there are various needs for mobile AI. So, there will be consumers who will be satisfied with using the AI capabilities for free. Then there could also be customers who wish for even more powerful AI capabilities and even pay for them. So, in the future decision-making, we will take all these factors into consideration," he said.

Moreover, Roh said Samsung is gearing up to bring Galaxy AI to more than 100 million devices worldwide this year. The Korean smartphone giant recently confirmed that the tech is slated to arrive on a few older Galaxy flagships including the Galaxy S23 series, Galaxy S23 FE, Galaxy Z Fold 5, Galaxy Flip 5 and Galaxy Tab S9 series within the first half of 2024.

It is also safe to assume that Galaxy AI-backed features will be available on the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Flip 6. Likewise, the Galaxy S25 series, which Samsung is expected to announce in 2025, could get the AI helper as well.

Samsung set to expand its manufacturing presence in India

Roh told the publication that Samsung will produce laptops in India starting this year. These Samsung laptops will be available to the Indian market, he added.

"The setup, preparation is currently underway, and we will be able to make supplies from this year," Roh said. It is worth noting that Samsung currently makes laptops in China and Vietnam. Roh believes the company's manufacturing hub in India is vital for its global operations.

However, Samsung did not apply for SOPs under the Indian government's Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for IT hardware, which includes laptops.

"We will continue our cooperation with the provincial (state) and national government, and by doing so, I believe we will be able to help further strengthen the manufacturing capability of India overall," Roh said.

The world's fastest GDDR7 memory from Samsung: What to expect?

Aside from this, Samsung is gearing up to supercharge AI with the world's fastest GDDR7 memory. The company first mentioned the GDDR7 memory for GPUs and servers during Samsung Tech Day 2022. In July, Samsung said new DRAM chips will soon enter the manufacturing phase.

If rumours making the rounds online are anything to go by, Samsung will be unveiling the world's fastest GDDR7 DRAM in February. The Graphics Double Data Rate (GDDR) memory will be used to power AI chips since it offers high bandwidth.

In other words, GDDR7 DRAM will be an important component of AI semiconductors. While details about this new memory are still scarce, a report by Tech Radar claims Samsung will talk more about GDDR7 at the IEEE International Solid-State Circuit Conference in San Francisco next month.

Earlier reports suggest the GDDR7 DRAM has a bandwidth of 1.5TBps, which is a notable 40 per cent increase over its predecessor, GDDR6. Moreover, the new chips are reportedly 20 per cent more power efficient than GDDR6 DRAM.