Decision time for all Android users
NurPhoto via Getty Images
Updated on Jan. 10 with early reports into a new Google AI privacy “backlash.”
You must be able to decide. That’s Samsung’s message for Android users in the aftermath of Google’s Gmail nightmare, when a misleading story about the secret harvesting of user data to train AI models quickly careened out of hand.
At CES, Samsung is pushing “trust-by-design,” highlighting the importance of AI platforms “that are predictable, transparent and easy for users to control.” That means knowing whether your data is being processed by AI on your device or in the cloud.
Samsung says “on-device AI allows personal data to remain local whenever possible, while cloud-based intelligence can be used selectively when greater speed or scale is required, giving users flexibility without compromising privacy.”
This is the hybrid AI Samsung has pushed for years. Originally, it was a differentiator to Google’s largely cloud-based AI. But Google has since co-opted a hybrid model as well, which is good, because Samsung leans heavily on Google’s Gemini for its phones.
Whisper it quietly, but all this is very welcome to hear but very complex to deploy. Most users have no idea where their data is being processed, whether it’s being stored and reviewed or used to train AI models, and where to even find privacy opt-outs.
That became palpably clear with Google’s hurried correction to kill a fake story suggesting it was secretly opting Gmail users into widespread AI data training. In essence, harvesting petabytes of email data to feed Gemini’s break-neck development.
“Trust in AI starts with security that’s proven, not promised,” says Shin Baik, Samsung’s AI platform lead. “For more than a decade, Samsung Knox has provided a deeply embedded security platform designed to protect sensitive data at every layer. But trust goes beyond a single device — it requires an ecosystem that protects itself.”
Talk is easy — delivery is hard. This PR about AI optionality comes the same week that, per Reuters, Samsung has confirmed that it “plans to double this year the number of its mobile devices with ‘Galaxy AI’ features largely powered by Google’s Gemini.”
But the Gmail furor shows that Gemini users have little to no idea about what data is stored, used, captured or reviewed on device or in the cloud. Even seasoned tech and security reporters were caught up in the fake narrative that Google had free rein.
No easy answers for Android users then, especially given the matrix of platforms and providers that mesh together on device. You really do need to read the privacy settings and beware what you share — unless you know for a fact it stays on device.
Such is the criticality of Samsung’s use of Gemini to Google itself, that analysts suggest “it’s set to boost Alphabet’s plans to compete with OpenAI and attract more customers to its AI models. OpenAI launched its GPT-5.2 model only a few weeks after Gemini 3 in November last year. Samsung’s confidence in accelerating its AI deployments using Gemini is a big positive for Alphabet.”
Samsung’s T M Roh has been unequivocal this week: “We will apply AI to all products, all functions, and all services as quickly as possible.”
And this direction of travel will be hard to reverse. Per Android Headlines, “the strategy seems to be working. Samsung’s internal data shows that consumer awareness of its ‘Galaxy AI’ branding has skyrocketed from 30% to 80% in just one year. It’s noteworthy that Google benefits from the massive distribution scale with Gemini as the Galaxy AI’s core. However, Samsung is using the partnership to fend off growing competition from Apple and various Chinese manufacturers.”
Tekedia suggests “the AI push is also about regaining ground for Samsung in smartphones after losing its global sales crown to Apple. While Apple was on track to lead smartphone shipments last year, Samsung believes tighter AI integration across devices can widen its lead in on-device intelligence and user features. Galaxy AI, Samsung’s umbrella brand, blends Google’s Gemini with its own Bixby system, assigning tasks across models rather than relying on a single engine.”
All these threads are now set to collide. Samsung’s hybrid AI push in the wake of Google’s Gmail AI furor will now be overtaken by Google’s announcement that “Gmail is entering the Gemini era.. In short, “managing your inbox and the flow of information has become as important as the emails themselves. To help, we’re bringing Gmail into the Gemini era and making it your personal, proactive inbox assistant.”
There’s nothing “hybrid” about this. Google’s AI upgrade to Gmail is very much cloud-based, and means Google’s AI pouring over all your content if you enable all the latest features, even if there’s no AI model training added into the mix.
Per CBS News, this means “AI scanning your inbox, learning your voice in the context, and then offering one click suggestions.” But these changes come with “big privacy questions,” despite “Google saying all users get their own AI. They say it’s a secure environment. Google claims it’s not training AI off your emails. But remember, Gmail is free. So that means you are the product. Your data is the product.”
And that neatly sums up Samsung’s predicament. In allying its own AI offerings to Google, which has built an empire on data monetization, can it keep its hybrid strategy intact? What is the consistent message to users of its devices?
“So definitely, a big choice you’re making as a user,” CBS News says.
X’s automated AI summary of posts summarizes the challenge for both Samsung and Google when it comes to optics of this latest AI upgrade: “Google rolls out Al features for Gmail amid user backlash,” with “many users venting frustration over privacy intrusions like scanning emails and hard-to-find opt-outs.”
As privacy advocate Naomi Brockwell warns, “every email going into your inbox for Gmail is being analyzed, it’s being scanned, it’s being added to a profile about you.” She also tells users: “I get hundreds of emails each week from people who want me to test their products, or collab, or anything else. Hot tip, if you are pitching yourself as privacy-conscious, don’t use a gmail address.”
