Recent product announcements from Samsung, such as Galaxy S24 FE, Galaxy Tab S10 Plus, and Galaxy S10 Ultra, have raised quite a bit of noise among tech enthusiasts. Yet, in the quiet of all these announcements, one finds that another big detail hints that 'use-cases' may bring some AI features to the Galaxy devices at a paid cost.

The Move to Paid AI Features

Samsung Galaxy AI Features Will Be Paid Service Soon

A keen observer at SamMobile dug out a delicate print note in the press releases from Samsung stating, "Fees may apply to certain AI features at the end of 2025." That statement is not that apparent, but it means a drastic policy change from Samsung AI. It stated that the firm may end up giving free AI services and instead start charging for some of the tools and features.

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Previous Indicators About Change

This isn't the first time Samsung has alluded to this potential change. A similar note accompanied the rollout of the Galaxy S24 series at the start of the year, stating that the company has been considering the move for a while now.

Samsung hasn't disclosed the features that would attract fees or what pricing model it would employ, but monetization of AI services appears to be part of its plans.

What AI Functions Will Come With a Price

Nobody knows what functions AI will pay for. Still, even so, its devices already boast many functionalities and features, ranging from photo editing and real-time translation in a few languages to summarizing notes.

All these services remain free today, but heavy users may pay for access once the firm updates the AI offering.

The firm has also confirmed it is working on further AI features, but it is still uncertain if those new ones would be a pay-for package. The complexity and the demand for tools like generative AI are rising daily.

With such a spiking demand, charging a user for exclusive features seems easy for the technology giant. As AI models pile up, companies like Samsung are forced into playing the paid services route because the models consume much more computational power and resources.

Increasing Cost of AI Development

Samsung is also joining a trend across the broader tech industry. Most firms offer premium AI services for a price. Some of the most prominent names doing so include Google and OpenAI- the company behind ChatGPT- which charges around $20 (£15 or AU$29) per month to access better AI models. Speculation is rife about whether ChatGPT Plus will also be pricey.

Like Google, Apple has also started offering AI-enabled features through its Apple Intelligence initiative free of charge. But hopefully, more functional features will be found in paid services like Apple One.

What to Expect Next Year and Beyond

Until now, Samsung users have been able to reap many AI features at no cost. However, toward the tail end of 2025, this could be poised to change. As for the finer details on pricing or feature impact, these are not known yet. Suffice it to say that Samsung is gearing up for a future when AI services are monetized.

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