Samsung is injecting another dose of artificial intelligence into its next lineup of Galaxy smartphones, escalating an effort to simplify people’s lives while deepening their dependence on a device that accompanies them almost everywhere.

The three Galaxy S25 models unveiled Wednesday in San Jose are the second generation to be designed for the AI age — a craze that market-leading Apple joined in September with the release of the iPhone 16. Most of the hardware on the Galaxy S25 is the same as last year’s model, except for a faster chip and a more powerful ultrawide lens on the camera.

In its next phase, Samsung is positioning the Galaxy S25 as an “AI companion” capable of pulling more requests out of conversations, learning people’s routines, anticipating people’s needs and performing more technological tricks, such as being able to remove unwanted sounds from videos or identifying the name of a song upon request.

The AI on the new Galaxy phones has been designed to toggle from one app to another to fetch, summarize and manage information, entertainment and other content stored on the devices. In an attempt to make the technology even more indispensable, the AI on Galaxy S25 will be able to create customized digital dossiers on users’ behavior patterns and other unique characteristics that Samsung is calling a “personal data engine.”

“Everything you see here is the beginning of a new reality,” said TM Roh, the Samsung executive who oversees its smartphones. “Things that you thought you could never do, but now you can.”

As Apple has been doing with its AI features, Samsung is promising that its technology will shield users’ privacy while also peering into their lives. Samsung is providing the protection primarily by keeping all the knowledge accrued by its AI technology on the Galaxy devices — within a digital fortress the company nicknamed after Fort Knox, the Kentucky Army base seated next to the U.S. government’s depository for gold.

After raising prices last year, Samsung is standing pat with the Galaxy S25 phones, with the standard model starting at $800, the Plus model at $1,000 and the Ultra model at $1,300. The phones are scheduled to be in stores starting Feb. 7.

Samsung is doubling down on its AI bet after getting a sales bump from last year’s emphasis on the technology. The South Korean company sold 32 million of its Galaxy S24 models from January through September last year, a 25% increase from the same time in the previous year, according to the research group Canalys.

But Samsung didn’t fare as well in the lower end of the smartphone market, where it was hurt by cheaper devices made by Chinese competitors. That’s one of the reasons Samsung’s total smartphone shipments fell by 1% last year, leaving it slightly behind Apple in the worldwide market, according to the research firm International Data Crop.

Ultrathin phone

Samsung plans to launch an ultrathin version of its Galaxy S25 phone in the first half of this year, beating Apple to a promising new category.

The company previewed the Galaxy S25 Edge on Wednesday in San Jose. Building on an S25 lineup that was unveiled earlier at the event, the Edge model is notable for its extremely thin profile.

The move sets up a showdown this year in the skinny smartphone segment. Apple is also expected to add an ultrathin version to its iPhone line later this year. The company usually unveils its new phones in September.

Bloomberg contributed to this report.