Samsung Reportedly Upgrading Bixby After Acquiring Korean AI Startup Fluenty

Samsung has just acquired Korean artificial intelligence startup Fluenty, and the acquisition has already sparked rumors that the tech giant could be planning an upgrade for its AI assistant Bixby. The acquisition comes in the wake of the announcement that the company has named a new chief to lead its software development department. Samsung revealed this week that it has acquired Fluenty, a startup that has developed a machine learning-based chatbot. The startup is also known for being founded by researchers from top tech firms in South Korea including Naver, LG Electronics and Kakao, according to The Investor. The acquisition comes a little more than a year since Fluenty joined Samsung's startup accelerating program that provided funding worth 100 million won or US$18,000.