Take a close look at the press releases for the brand new Samsung Galaxy S24 FE, Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Plus, or Samsung Galaxy S10 Ultra, and you’ll notice a footnote pointing to a future where some Galaxy AI features require a payment.
As spotted by SamMobile, the exact text reads: “Fees may apply to certain AI features at the end of 2025.” That’s not particularly specific or definitive, but it does suggest that the Galaxy AI experience isn’t going to be completely free beyond the end of next year.
This isn’t new: the same disclaimer was included in the information we got alongside the Samsung Galaxy S24 series at the start of this year. This isn’t a surprise then, but it shows Samsung hasn’t changed its plans for charging for AI.
We don’t yet know which features might come with a price tag attached, or what that price tag might be – Samsung hasn’t said anything about that yet, but has gone on the record to say more Galaxy AI features are on the way.
The cost of AI
It’s not a huge shock that Samsung wants to start making some money from all the AI tools it’s stuffed into its devices: generative artificial intelligence requires a huge amount of computing power, and a huge amount of energy to run.
Both Google and OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, offer users more advanced features and more powerful AI models for $20 (about £15 / AU$29) a month – although there are rumors that the price of ChatGPT Plus could more than double in the next five years.
Then there’s Apple: Apple Intelligence is rolling out over the next few months, free of charge, but there has been talk that more advanced features are eventually going to have a price attached, perhaps as part of an Apple One bundle.
For now, you can still use the AI features – covering image editing, live translation, note summaries, and plenty more – free of charge. If you start to reply on them regularly though, bear in mind that there might eventually be a cost attached.
