Samsung has quietly demoted its long-teased Ballie home robot to an internal project, dashing hopes for a consumer release. First unveiled in 2020, the spherical device was promised for summer 2025 but now serves only as a testing platform. The company cites ongoing development needs in smart home AI.
Samsung's Ballie, a compact rolling robot envisioned as a smart home companion, has met an uncertain fate six years after its debut. Introduced at CES 2020, Ballie demonstrated facial recognition to track its owner and control devices like activating a smart vacuum in promotional videos.
The robot reappeared at CES 2024 with an updated design: a larger, more spherical form on three wheels, featuring a light ring. Samsung showcased it projecting images for two to three hours on a single charge and connecting to smartphones. By CES 2025, demos included sending directions to phones and offering wine suggestions, with the company stating Ballie would launch for purchase that year.
In April 2025, Samsung announced availability in the US and South Korea for the summer, highlighting its use of Google Gemini for natural conversations. Features promised included adjusting lighting, greeting visitors, personalizing schedules, and setting reminders.
However, as of January 2026, Ballie remains unreleased. A Bloomberg report indicates it has been indefinitely shelved, with a Samsung spokesperson describing it as an "active innovation platform" for internal purposes. "After multiple years of real-world testing, it continues to inform how Samsung designs spatially aware, context-driven experiences, particularly in areas like smart home intelligence, ambient AI and privacy-by-design," the spokesperson told Bloomberg.
A registration website for early access persists, leaving room for a potential future launch. Analysts suggest Samsung's caution stems from challenges in ensuring reliable performance and justifying the expected high cost amid broader industry shifts in AI and robotics development. Instead, the firm may integrate Ballie's technologies into existing products.
