Samsung Electronics and Google Cloud have announced the launch of Ballie, a long-awaited AI-powered home robot equipped with a built-in video projector.
The small, spherical robot, first previewed in 2020, is set to roll out this summer in the U.S. and South Korea, marking the companies’ entry into the growing consumer robotics market.
Described by Samsung as a “true companion,” Ballie uses artificial intelligence to navigate the home, assist users with tasks, and project videos onto walls.
“It’s more like a personal BB-8 than an Alexa Dot,” said Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud, referencing the iconic Star Wars character.
Ballie runs on Samsung’s Tizen operating system and connects with the company’s SmartThings platform to control smart devices, manage schedules, answer questions, and take phone calls.
It also supports content streaming via services like YouTube, Netflix, and Samsung TV Plus.
This new version of Ballie integrates Google’s Gemini AI for natural language understanding, visual processing, and in-home navigation, while Samsung’s own AI handles personal data access and environmental information such as weather.
“It’s a completely new Ballie,” said Jay Kim, Samsung’s executive vice president of next-generation AI.
“As you see, AI is evolving at light speed. We are ready to show it and release it to the market.”
Ballie moves autonomously using small wheels, interpreting voice commands such as “come here” and responding with natural, intelligent movement.
Kurian emphasised the technical complexity behind the robot’s functionality, saying, “The system takes a lot of magic behind the scenes to make it work.”
Initially, Ballie will support only American English and Korean.
Samsung and Google are already planning future updates, including a software development kit for third-party apps and video conferencing features.
Kurian noted that although Google announced Gemini Robotics in March, the Samsung partnership is unique.
“This is the only partnership we have with this personalised experience,” he said, highlighting the significant tuning and optimisation required.
The Ballie launch reflects the latest move by tech giants into the AI robotics space, joining efforts by Meta, Apple, and numerous startups exploring the next frontier of home automation.
