Samsung Galaxy S24 May Get An AI Photo Tool To Battle Pixel 8's Magic Eraser

The upcoming Samsung Galaxy S24 series is expected to leverage AI in a few interesting ways, with upgraded machine learning hardware and a raft of features. A new leak reveals one of those features, an AI-powered photo editor, is set to rival Google's popular Magic Eraser tool.

Samsung typically pushes the envelope with camera hardware on its flagship phones. The S24 Ultra will reportedly have the latest 200MP image sensor with improved night mode and zoom features, thanks in part to the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip. The leaked document details a few bullet point features of the phone, including "generative edit.," which sounds a whole lot like Google Magic Editor (previously Magic Eraser).

"Move or remove objects," the document reads. "Fill an empty space with Generative Edit. Requires a Samsung account log in and an internet connection." There are no surprises in the first half—it sounds exactly like Magic Eraser. You highlight something you want removed or moved, and the phone identifies the object's edges and fills in the space with AI. The second half of the description raises some questions. Despite having the most powerful neural processing unit (NPU) yet, you need an internet connection for Generative Edit.

Presumably, Samsung has a legion of AI accelerators plugged in, ready to handle your generative AI needs in the cloud. If the NPU isn't doing any of the heavy lifting on-device, Samsung could add Generative Edit to almost any device. It's not just the 200MP Ultra model—the Galaxy S24+ and S24 with their 50MP cameras will also get Generative Edit. The same goes for even cheaper phones like the A-series. However, Samsung may opt to keep this cloud feature limited to the Galaxy S series as a selling point.

Currently, the rumor mill says that Samsung will reveal the Galaxy S24 family on January 17. Previous leaks have shown off a more iPhone-like frame, and a stacked battery with support for faster charging. At this rate, Samsung won't have anything left to reveal when the announcement rolls around later this month.