Galaxy S26 and the era of the "AI Agent Phone"

At the launch event in San Francisco, Samsung CEO TM Roh introduced the Galaxy S26 with the concept of an “AI Agent Phone” — a device capable of predicting needs, learning habits, and proactively acting on behalf of the user. Unlike traditional AI responses (question-answering), the AI Agent automatically opens and navigates applications without continuous user input.

This technology is powered by Google Gemini, which can run applications in the background and perform a series of tasks. For example, the AI can read a group message ordering pizza, automatically open DoorDash, add items to the cart, and wait for user confirmation.

Previously, devices like Humane AI Pin or Rabbit R1 attempted to realize similar ideas but failed. Samsung has integrated this directly into the Galaxy S26, currently in limited testing in the US and South Korea.