Google’s Gemini may have displaced Bixby on the latest Galaxy smartphones, but Samsung hasn’t given up on its voice assistant just yet. Instead, the company appears to have worked with Perplexity to improve Bixby’s responsiveness and offer users a more powerful alternative to Gemini.
We first learned about this partnership in July, when a report indicated that Samsung was exploring collaborations with companies like Perplexity and OpenAI to bring more AI features to Galaxy phones. At the time, a Samsung executive confirmed the company’s plans but did not share details about how such partnerships would benefit end users.
However, a more recent leak suggested that Samsung was planning to bring Perplexity’s capabilities to Bixby with the Galaxy S26 series to help answer more complex questions. While the company hasn’t announced anything official yet, it has reportedly started testing the integration in the latest One UI 8.5 beta for the Galaxy S25 series.
According to recent posts from X user Ach, Samsung has given Bixby a visual overhaul in One UI 8.5 and the voice assistant can now rely on Perplexity’s intelligence to answer complicated questions. Screenshots showing the change clearly show Perplexity listed as a source in the Bixby answers below.
Bixby is preparing for a comeback
The Perplexity integration appears to be live for beta testers in Europe with version 4.0.50.4 of the Bixby app, but is not yet generally available. Samsung is expected to unveil the change along with the Galaxy S26 series early next year and will likely reach older devices with the One UI 8.5 update.
If the integration happens as expected, it could mark a meaningful comeback for Bixby after years of playing second fiddle to Google Assistant and Gemini on Galaxy smartphones. Leveraging Perplexity’s AI models would allow Samsung to keep Bixby relevant on its devices while giving users another powerful alternative to Gemini.
