The Samsung Galaxy S24 was launched with a lot of hype surrounding the phone's AI features, including the option to summarize and translate any web page, but as to whether users will eventually have to pay to continue using these features, A big question remained.

Prior to the launch, there were many rumors that Samsung would make these features free until 2025 and then charge for them.

Now T.M. Roh, Samsung's mobile division boss, has confirmed to ET Telecom that the AI features will indeed remain free until 2025. Beyond that, things are a bit uncertain. Roh explained that no definitive decision has been made as to whether Samsung will continue to offer the S24's AI features (some of which are also available on older handsets) for free to all after next year. He did suggest, however, that there are plans to introduce more powerful AI features for paying subscribers.

Roh told the magazine: "According to our analysis, there are different needs for mobile AI. In other words, some consumers will be content to use AI functions for free. And there may be customers who desire even more powerful AI features and will pay for them. So we will consider all of these factors in our future decision-making."

Why would Samsung start charging for features? Quite simply, because it costs money to provide these services in the first place: every search on ChatGPT is said to cost OpenAI about 36 cents. This goes toward electricity, cooling costs, and of course, employee salaries. That may not sound like a lot, but it increases dramatically when more people start using the service; as of last April, when ChatGPT began to really take off, it was apparently costing OpenAI $700,000 a day to operate.

And regardless of the financial future of its AI services, Samsung clearly wants to expand its artificial intelligence as much as possible. According to Roh, the company plans to deploy AI capabilities in more than 100 million devices worldwide this year. This is a rather large number, and while Samsung has deep pockets, it is clear that it is not in the business of offering things for free. What remains to be seen is whether consumers will find the AI service valuable enough to want to pay for it after a year of use. After all, Apple has extended its free emergency SOS for iPhone 14 users for one year.

Meanwhile, if you plan to buy a Galaxy S24 or Galaxy S24 Ultra, here are seven AI features to try first.