Samsung Electronics has laid out its ambitious roadmap for integrating artificial intelligence into everyday life, unveiling its "Companion to AI Living" vision at a special preview event for CES 2026. The "First Look" event, held at Wynn Las Vegas in the United States, served as a showcase for how AI will define the South Korean giant's next generation of consumer technologies, from televisions to home appliances.
Samsung's AI Leadership and a Smarter Bixby
Kicking off the event, TM Roh, CEO and head of Samsung's Device eXperience Division, emphasised the company's leadership in the AI space. He stated that Samsung's extensive, connected ecosystem powered by AI allows it to deliver a true companion experience to users in their daily routines. "Samsung is building a more unified, more personal experience across mobile, visual display, home appliances and services," Roh declared.
He provided a significant update on Bixby, Samsung's voice assistant, noting it has become "even more intelligent." The new Bixby offers context-aware systems that work seamlessly across the Samsung device portfolio. Roh stressed that for AI to be a genuine companion, trust and privacy are non-negotiable. He pointed to Samsung Knox and Knox Matrix security platforms as the foundational standard for protecting user privacy and securing all AI services, with continued efforts in governance.
The Display Revolution: 130-inch Micro RGB and AI TV Lineup
SW Yong, president of the Visual Display Business, and Sukhmani Mohta, chief marketing officer for Visual Display in America, detailed how Samsung is merging hardware with visual intelligence. The company, celebrating 20 consecutive years as the world's number one TV brand with over 830 million units sold, has built a comprehensive AI TV lineup.
Yong highlighted the pinnacle of this lineup: the new 130-inch Micro RGB display, described as a major leap in both scale and picture quality. This panel uses micro-sized red, green, and blue light sources where each microscopic diode operates independently to produce the purest colour possible, powered by a Micro RGB AI Engine Pro for precise control.
The company's full 2026 display portfolio includes MicroLED as the ultimate engineering feat, OLED for cinematic contrast, Neo-QLED reaching more homes, more accessible Mini-LED, and now AI-enabled UHD TVs.
Samsung also introduced intuitive, AI-driven viewing modes. For instance, AI Soccer Mode Pro uses AI to tune picture and sound for a stadium-like experience, while AI Sound Controller Pro lets users adjust volumes for crowd noise, commentary, or music separately. The Vision AI Companion (VAC) supports contextual voice requests across compatible TV models and enhances lifestyle by helping find recipes for meals shown on-screen and sending them directly to connected kitchen devices.
Home Appliances Evolve into True Companions
On the home front, Cheolgi Kim, head of the Digital Appliances Division, and Elizabeth Anderson, head of integrated marketing, explained Samsung's shift from selling appliances to providing "home companions" that reduce daily chore stress. A key enabler is SmartThings, which as of December 2025 serves over 430 million users globally, giving Samsung unmatched scale and consumer insight.
This insight is central to the Family Hub refrigerator, the connected home's centrepiece. An upgrade to its AI Vision, built with Google Gemini, improves recognition of food items placed in or taken out, simplifying meal planning. This AI-enabled refrigerator line has now won 10 CES Innovation Awards, including three consecutive years of recognition.
New features include a gamified "What's for Today?" for recipe suggestions, and Video to Recipe, which converts cooking videos into step-by-step guides. FoodNote provides a weekly report on food usage patterns, while Voice ID personalises content for different family members.
Samsung's CES 2026 preview firmly positions AI not as a mere feature, but as an integrated, trusted companion designed to unify and personalise the entire consumer technology experience, setting the stage for its product launches in the coming year.
