Samsung is bringing grocery-buying capabilities to its artificial intelligence-enabled refrigerators.
U.S. customers will have the ability to restock groceries "directly from the screens" of their Samsung Bespoke fridges thanks to an upcoming feature that combines Samsung’s "proprietary food recognition technology" with Instacart’s product-matching application programming interface (API), the company said Thursday.
The feature, arising from a newly-announced "multi-year" partnership between Samsung and the online grocery service, will launch on Samsung’s 2025 Bespoke fridges "with different types of screens" and its "AI Vision Inside" technology.
It will become available on Samsung’s older AI Family Hub+ fridges, provided they have its food recognition tech, this year as well, according to Samsung.
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The company said eligible existing models will receive the feature via an over-the-network update. The schedule for that is still being hammered out.
"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," Samsung Electronics Head executive Jeong Seung Moon said in a statement.
Samsung also described the Instacart partnership as the company’s "latest step forward in Samsung’s journey to add value to the user experience by working hand in hand with other forward-thinking technology leaders."
Its "AI Vision Inside" already helps owners track the food in their fridge. It relies on cameras and deep-learning models to do that, according to the company.
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The technology can identify up to over three dozen food items, while "names and expiration dates of non-recognized food items must be set manually," per Samsung.
The upcoming feature will expand "AI Vision Inside" by "enabling replenishment through Instacart, directly from the fridge," it said.
When the capability launches, U.S. Samsung Bespoke fridge owners will need to have a Samsung and Instacart account, as well as Wi-Fi to take advantage of it, according to the company’s press release. They will also need to live in an area where Instacart operates.
The company said the 32-inch AI Family Hub+ and the soon-to-be unveiled 9-inch AI Home will be among the 2025 Bespoke models debuting the feature.
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The Bespoke fridge with the 9-inch AI Home screen is expected to be highlighted at CES 2025 along with a slew of other Samsung high-tech home appliances. Samsung previously described the Bespoke fridge with the 9-inch AI Home as an appliance that "caters to consumers seeking the Family Hub’s advanced features in a more compact size."
CES 2025 will run from Jan. 7 to Jan. 10.
