Samsung debuts AI-powered health assistant, joining packed market

Samsung Health Assistant pulls in data from the user's Galaxy smartphone, smartwatch or smart ring. Samsung also announced a series of other features coming to its health platform

Samsung Electronics Co. is rolling out a new AI-powered assistant that acts as a virtual health companion, joining a growing number of tech companies using chatbots to deliver personalized wellness insights to its users.Samsung Health Assistant pulls in data from the user's Galaxy smartphone, smartwatch or smart ring, the company said Tuesday. The firm also announced a series of other features coming to its health platform, particularly around heart metrics.   

The updates, which will initially launch as a beta test next month and require users to opt in, come one day before the South Korean company is set to announce the Galaxy S26 smartphone and upgrades to the Galaxy Watch. They also mark Samsung's foray into an increasingly crowded space. Whoop Inc., the maker of screenless fitness bands, has an AI coach built into its platform, as does the new Fitbit Air from Alphabet Inc.'s Google. Oura Health Oy, the leading smart ring brand, offers a similar feature, and Apple Inc. is working on something in that vein.But Samsung's approach is different because the features can inform the greater Samsung ecosystem, said Dr. Hon Pak, the senior vice president who oversees the digital health business. The new tool  incorporates the company's existing personalized data engine, which scans devices for tidbits like calendar events and travel schedules that it can use to tailor recommendations. 

 

"With connected devices - that data, that awareness - will eventually inform how we go about engaging with users in a way that is more contextualized," Pak said in an interview. 

For example, it might notice that the user's Samsung smart lights weren't turned off until 11:30 p.m., suggesting they may have missed their window to wind down, which would have an impact on sleep. The system will also eventually be able to do things like suggest breathing exercises ahead of scheduled high-stress meetings or adjust sleep coaching if it detects travel across time zones.Users can also ask the assistant questions about how their sleep, nutrition, activity and other data interact together, and receive actionable insights on how to make meaningful improvements. If asked how to achieve more consistent sleep, the system can reference data from previous days and offer personalized coaching on next steps. 

Like other products and tools in the fitness-gadget space, Samsung's new AI assistant does not diagnose conditions, give medical advice or make treatment suggestions. "For now, we're putting guardrails around all of that," Pak said.Samsung is also working with medical institutions, including the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to cut down on the risk of the AI hallucinating incorrect responses, and ensure answers are rooted in medical research. The features are also protected by privacy and security measures across the software, hardware and chip levels, Pak said.Other new features coming to Samsung Health include a tool called Vitals, which analyzes key health metrics overnight - including heart rate, heart rate variability and blood oxygen level - and flags if there are meaningful changes from the user's baseline.  Another feature, called Daily Cardio Load, intends to help users better understand their cardiovascular training intensity by factoring in activity levels and recovery status.  There's also a new Heart Health Score that aims to provide users with a more comprehensive view of their fitness by looking at other data such as sleep and activity.Additional updates include Vascular Load, which offers insights about blood pressure patterns and how they may change over time. Fitness Index, meanwhile, assesses progress based on metrics such as maximal oxygen consumption, heart rate and activity data.Bloomberg has reported that Samsung is also working behind the scenes on a health platform, expected as soon as late 2026, that aims to bridge the gap between a user's health data and physicians. Pak said both the new health features and the hub are part of what the company refers to as a focus on the "first and last mile" - meaning they don't only detect health issues early but ensure patients can more easily follow through on treatment plans from physicians.