CES 2025: Samsung's new AI robot assistant Ballie
“Available to consumers this summer, Ballie will be able to engage in natural, conversational interactions to help users manage their home environment, including adjusting lighting, greeting people at the door, personalizing schedules, setting reminders and more,” the press release said, pointing to the robot's implementation of Google Gemini.
It's now 2026 and Bally still hasn't come out. Bloomberg reported today that the device has been “delayed indefinitely.” The publication notes that a company representative called Ballie an “active innovation platform” for internal use, which is markedly different from describing it as a gadget that people will eventually be able to buy.
“After years of real-world testing, it continues to inform how Samsung is developing spatially aware and context-aware experiences, especially in areas such as smart home intelligence, ambient AI, and privacy by design,” a Samsung spokesperson said in a statement to Bloomberg.
Website registration to “get a chance to be the first to meet Bally” is still valid, and it's possible that Samsung could still release Bally.
But at this point, Samsung may not be confident that Ballie will consistently deliver its advertised features over the long term and/or generate enough interest from people who might pay a likely high price for a home robot. As many tech companies rethink their approaches to chatbots, AI in smart speakersAnd home robotsSamsung may have decided it made more sense to extract Ballie's features for use in other products. Bally will likely need a deeper look into how it can be more useful and reliable before Samsung hits the market—if it ever does.
