Galaxy AI features have been available for free ever since Samsung first introduced them, but they always came with a caveat that the company could charge for them in the future.
That may finally be about to happen. Samsung is gearing up to test a $4.99 Galaxy AI Premium subscription plan which would put some artificial intelligence features behind the paywall.
Get higher usage limits with the paid plans
SammyGuru reports that Samsung is setting up an early access program for Galaxy AI Premium. It will provide subscribers with more usage of Galaxy AI features and also enable them to see their AI feature usage. Users will currently have to opt-in for the test program and any funds they spend during this test will be refunded.
Samsung will retain a standard plan for Galaxy AI which will remain free. This will include features like Browsing assist, Now Brief, Creative studio, Smart capture, Samsung Keyboard, Photo assist and Personal agent. Despite being free, these features will have usage limits. Once the limit runs out, you'll either need to buy credits or subscribe to the Max plan which provides 4x usage.
The features that go behind the paywall include the ability to generate AI videos from your phone, a Bixby Action feature that will automate tasks across your apps, and Daily Briefing, with higher usage limits for all Galaxy AI features.
It's further claimed that the subcription plan will be priced at $4.99 per month or $47.99 for annual billing. It's unclear how much credit top ups will cost.
Samsung hasn't said when it intends to roll out this, and it remains to be seen whether this goes beyond being a test, but generative AI features need a lot of compute and compute costs a lot of money. It seems that Samsung may now be looking to pass on those costs to us.
