Samsung working on a ChatGPT-like AI tool, may launch it in July

Samsung has reportedly begun the development of its own ChatGPT-like AI tool. The company plans to introduce the new LLM (Large Language Model) solution as early as the end of July 2023. The in-development product doesn’t yet have a name.

According to the Korean media, Samsung Research is leading this project. It has devoted substantial resources and manpower to the project to ensure swift development. The firm has even restricted or limited other business units from using GPU resources between June and July. Since training LLMs require a massive amount of GPU power, it doesn’t want any additional burden on its GPUs during the development of its AI tool.

Samsung will use this AI tool for internal business purposes

Rumors of Samsung working on a ChatGPT-like AI tool first emerged in May. The company was said to be in talks with domestic tech firm Naver to jointly develop the tool. The report suggested the initial version of the new AI solution may debut in October this year.

However, a new report coming out of South Korea says Samsung plans to complete the development of the first-gen model in just two months. Moreover, there’s no mention of it co-developing the AI tool with Naver. The company reportedly decided to go solo after a recent high-level management meeting attended by Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong. Potential collaborations with Open AI, Microsoft, and Google were also discussed before deciding to develop an in-house solution as soon as possible.

Unlike the AI tools from these companies, Samsung’s solution won’t be available to the public. At least not the initial version. The company plans to use it for internal business purposes. It sees AI helping boost or speed up various business processes. The Korean behemoth wants to leverage AI in software development, document summarization, translation, and other internal operations. It believes “AI could drastically shorten the period of software development and semiconductor design,” Chosun.com reports.

Samsung tried using external AI tools for these purposes earlier. In March, it gave some employees in the semiconductor division access to ChatGPT in hopes of speeding up business processes. However, the OpenAI-made tool ended up leaking confidential company information, forcing the company to ban the use of all such external tools. It is now hurrying to come up with an in-house solution that doesn’t pose such risks.

Given the current AI landscape, Samsung may eventually release a public version of its AI tool, but the initial development appears to be intended for internal use. If the rumored launch timeline of “July end” is accurate, we may hear the company talk about AI during its Galaxy Unpacked event on July 27 where it will launch new foldables, tablets, and smartwatches.