Samsung is set to enhance its artificial intelligence-enabled refrigerators with new grocery-buying capabilities through a strategic partnership with Instacart. This announcement was made on Thursday by the company, which disclosed that U.S. customers will be able to refill their grocery stocks directly via the screens of their Samsung Bespoke fridges. This feature is made possible by integrating Samsung's proprietary food recognition technology with Instacart's product-matching application programming interface (API).
Scheduled for launch in Samsung's 2025 Bespoke fridges—equipped with varying screen sizes and the "AI Vision Inside" technology—the feature will also be extended to existing AI Family Hub+ models that already utilise this food recognition technology. This update is expected to roll out over the course of the year, although specific dates are still under discussion.
Samsung Electronics' Head Executive Jeong Seung Moon remarked on the collaboration, stating that, "the combination of Samsung’s key technology and Instacart’s outstanding online grocery shopping platform will be a great example of how partnership can create a new level of convenience." The partnership signifies a progressive step in Samsung's ongoing efforts to enhance user experience by collaborating with other technology innovators.
The "AI Vision Inside" technology, which is currently in use, enables users to monitor their food inventory through the appliance's built-in cameras and deep-learning models. It has the capacity to identify over three dozen food items, although users will need to manually input the names and expiration dates of any items that the system does not recognise.
Once the new grocery replenishment feature is activated, owners of Samsung Bespoke fridges in the U.S. will need to create accounts with both Samsung and Instacart, and have access to Wi-Fi, in order to utilise the service. Additionally, it is required that users reside in areas where Instacart provides service.
The upcoming Bespoke fridge models, notably the 32-inch AI Family Hub+ and the newly announced 9-inch AI Home, which will be featured at CES 2025 from January 7 to January 10, 2025, are expected to promote this capability. The compact 9-inch AI Home version is positioned to appeal to consumers who desire the advanced features found in the Family Hub within a smaller footprint.
Source: Noah Wire Services