VIV Labs executives visit Korea and hold briefing on acquisition background and future plans
Formation of an unprecedented AI platform, immediately fulfilling customer needs without the need for a third-party application

Executives from VIV Labs Inc. (hereinafter 'VIV'), an AI platform development company based in Silicon Valley, USA, which Samsung Electronics acquired on October 6, visited Korea to explain the background of the acquisition and future plans. Participating in the briefing were VIV Labs CEO Dag Kittlaus, CTO Adam Cheyer, and Lee In-jong, Vice President and Head of Development Unit 1 at Samsung Electronics' Mobile Communications Business.

VIV Labs Inc. is a company that developed a unique open artificial intelligence platform, located in San Jose, California, USA, and was founded in 2012 by artificial intelligence experts Dag Kittlaus, Adam Cheyer, and Chris Brigham.

Viv's AI platform is characterized by the ability for external service providers to freely participate and connect their respective services to a natural language-based AI interface. Samsung Electronics assessed that through the acquisition of Viv, it has secured core capabilities to build future artificial intelligence services as internal resources, and through this, it has taken a step closer to creating an AI-based open ecosystem where all devices and services are connected as one.


▲ From left: Adam Cheyer, VP of Engineering at Viv Labs; Dag Kittlaus, CEO of Viv Labs; and Lee In-jong, Vice President and Head of Development Unit 1 at Samsung Electronics Mobile Business Division.


AI is a hot topic these days. How advanced is Samsung's current AI technology?
Samsung and Viv Labs are working together to create an AI platform unlike anything before. On this platform, third-party developers can add their service capabilities to offer their services more broadly to customers. What we are building is an open AI platform that will create a new sensation in the industry. It will not stop at the mere stage of 'intelligence' but will naturally execute what we instruct, expanding into a vast array of services incomparable to the fragmentary services currently available. Currently, Galaxy smartphones require the use of a third-party application to order pizza or coffee. However, the new AI platform will perform what customers want immediately, without the need for a third-party application. This is precisely what an 'open platform' is. The next Galaxy S8 is planned to be released equipped with this AI platform, and we are also very much looking forward to it.

- Compared to Siri, how natural will Samsung's service's voice recognition be? Also, considering it is expected to be developed based on English, where does the process of recognizing other foreign languages stand currently?
Language recognition has been continuously advancing over the past few years and currently possesses human-level accuracy. This is because users have consistently spoken to the device, making their actual voices usable data. The accuracy of this service is currently approaching the level we need. Regarding language diversity, our platform is being developed to support several languages, but it will still take some time to provide more. As accuracy improves, people will increase their use of our platform to communicate with a wider range of things. To reach that level of accuracy, the device must understand not only language but also the natural context of the human world. We are striving to achieve that level of accuracy.

- What is the main purpose of your visit to Korea? I heard that you came up with a name for an AI platform; could you possibly let us know?
Viv Labs has come to Korea to begin the process of realizing the vision we share with Samsung. This can be seen as the beginning of a long-term relationship where we share our great ambitions for the future. We will be working with many developers at the research center. We have not yet decided on a name. We plan to prioritize and focus on technology.

- What impact do you think AI will have on the Fourth Industrial Revolution?
AI is a very broad topic. The platform we are currently developing is a highly conversational interface. Viv Labs will provide the first open system with limitless possibilities, and once this platform exists, an AI assistant will be able to do a tremendous amount of work for you. More developers will participate, and more users will interact with the AI platform. Our children ask, "How did you live without the internet?" but the next generation will ask, "How did you live without AI?" This service will become that significant. This platform will be as easy to use as the internet is to us today.

Reason for choosing Samsung: I resonate with Samsung's future vision for AI.

- Why did you specifically choose Samsung among so many other companies?
Viv Labs had the option to choose from many other companies, but we decided to work with Samsung. First, no other company has as extensive a lineup of smart devices as Samsung; it is truly an exceptional company. Vice President Lee In-jong visited Viv Labs a few months ago and shared Samsung’s future vision for AI, which is exactly what we are pursuing. The core vision is to build a platform usable anywhere in the world. The methods and results currently available on the market provide only a very fragmented view of our service compared to our boundless capabilities. While the Galaxy S8 will feature an AI platform, it is best to view this as the foundation and basis of our new technology. We are focusing on making this technology extremely easy and convenient to use, and it will become an interface that enables users to communicate in their daily lives, rather than just a simple function. This will mark the beginning of a new paradigm.

What will be the first device to use this platform?
It is safe to assume that the Galaxy S8 will be the first platform. This service will not only operate on smartphones but will also function as a home appliance for everyday communication. It is uncertain how much longer it will take to create a perfect platform, but we will strive to reach that perfection.

It also functions as a home appliance for everyday communication.

What other companies were interested in this new AI platform?
Countless companies and content providers wanted to become partners, but we turned them all down. However, Samsung's goals were exactly the same as ours, and we believe we made the right choice.

If this platform can connect everything from smartphones to various home appliances, and given the rise of IoT, how does controlling appliances using applications differ from having a new platform?
First, this platform will allow users to control home appliances like a remote control without the need for applications. Our focus is on creating 'connected technology' capable of linking various devices. This platform will become a personalized 'assistant' best suited to the user's situation, and its starting point will likely be the mobile phone. For example, with this platform, users would be able to command a refrigerator to show them photos on their mobile phones. The Galaxy S8 can be seen as the beginning of a new technology that will continue to evolve.

Command the refrigerator to show the photos on your phone.

Could you explain exactly what services the Galaxy S8 can provide through this new platform?
We will have the opportunity to discuss this in more detail in the future. To put it simply, it will be on a completely different level from the platforms and services currently in the market.

- How do the merger and acquisition processes of Samsung and Apple differ?
I met Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong 30 minutes before this conference, and I consider it a great honor to work with him. Not only was the merger and acquisition process itself highly successful, but working as a team is providing positive motivation to each other.

Google has also launched an AI platform; what makes it different?
What we call an open ecosystem means that all external developers can control the platform where they provide services. If the Internet brought about technological revolutions in the past, and applications followed, I believe Samsung's AI platform will now play that role.