Samsung has been hard at work pursuing its AI ambitions for consumer devices. Earlier this year, the electronics giant announced that its products, including its flagship smartphone, the Galaxy 24, would feature Galaxy AI and Google's AI model Gemini, and last week, it unveiled its latest bi-fold smartphones, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6. Both phones prominently feature Galaxy AI and Google Gemini.
Now Samsung is adding a knowledge graph to power its AI offerings: The South Korean tech giant said Thursday it is acquiring Oxford Semantic Technologies, a U.K.-based knowledge graph startup that has developed an AI inference engine that can be deployed on edge devices, for an undisclosed amount.
The startup, a spin-out from the University of Oxford, was founded by Professors Ian Horrocks, Boris Motic and Bernardo Cuenca Grau in 2017. The company says its knowledge graph and semantic inference engine, RDFox, can be used to transform an organization's data into machine-readable knowledge and use rules-based AI to provide a better user experience, including improved search results and recommendations.
Knowledge Graphs use graph structures to organize and represent data about real-world entities such as people, objects, events, scenarios, and concepts, and show the relationships between them. For example, Google uses this technology to power its search results, especially its Knowledge Panel.
Oxford Semantic Technologies said its software helps companies improve data processing capabilities and support advanced reasoning both in the cloud and on edge devices. Applications range from assisting medical diagnostics to integrating maps for autonomous vehicle safety, to detecting financial crime and making product configuration recommendations, the company said.
The acquisition gives Samsung access to the startup's AI and personal knowledge graph engine, which the company said in a statement will enable it to integrate scattered information and context from different services and applications to deliver personalized user experiences while keeping on-device data safe. Samsung added that the technology can be applied to all of its products, including TVs and home appliances, not just mobile devices.
Samsung is an existing investor in Oxford Semantic through its venture arm and has been working with the startup on various projects since 2018. Oxford Science Enterprise is also an investor in the company.
“We're excited to work with Samsung,” Peter Crocker, CEO of Oxford Semantic Technologies, said in a statement. “By combining Samsung's user experience and data expertise with our advanced knowledge graph and reasoning technology, we'll be able to offer even more sophisticated personalization to Samsung customers. Additionally, developing RDFox together with Samsung and becoming part of a larger group will enable us to offer even better products, services and support to all our customers.”