Starting on July 30, Samsung might begin charging for some of the AI functions of the Galaxy S24 series

We are living in an era where the adoption of AI is increasing with every passing day. This year, Samsung debuted its flagship Galaxy S24 series with AI features. According to some recent pieces of information, users might be required to pay for some AI features of the Galaxy S24. Reportedly, some experience stores of the company have received notifications about the above-mentioned change in China.

According to the notice, AI functions that work with WPS will begin to cost money after July 30, 2024.
180 free WPS AI rights are available to users who buy the Galaxy S24 before this date and connect in to WPS. These rights are valid for seven days. After the due date, users will be required to pay for AI features.

Notably, they will be charged 15 yuan (~$2) per month or 118 yuan (~$16) per year. This new payment mechanism is the result of Samsung and WPS working together on AI features, and it represents a change in the way these services are paid for.

It appears to be a selective approach since Meitu and Baidu haven’t received any such charging notifications. One thing to notice here is that the AI features that are not dependent on third-party apps won’t be affected by these changes. It shows how to charge customers for AI services in a subtle way. When questioned about the charge alerts, Samsung and WPS, however, both withheld information regarding the charging procedures.

AI-driven input, translation, recording, note-taking, and camera functionalities are some of the Galaxy AI features available with the Samsung Galaxy S24 series. In China, most of these AI features are supported by local companies like Baidu. It results in a customized experience for the market. Wenxin is Beidu’s LLM that support AI features like summarization, advanced call and translation features, and gesture-based search features.