Samsung’s Ballie robot could be quietly heading for cancellation

It has been six years since Samsung first unveiled its home robot, Ballie. Early last year at CES, Samsung promised to launch it before the end of 2025. However, we were skeptical that it would launch after the company didn't showcase it at IFA 2025 and missed its self-imposed 2025 deadline. Now, it appears that Ballie could be heading for cancellation.

When Bloomberg reached out to Samsung to know Ballie's status and release timeframe, the South Korean firm referred to Ballie as an “active innovation platform” within the company rather than a consumer device intended for release. While the company did not mention that it is being cancelled, it appears that Samsung has shelved Ballie's consumer release, at least for now.

Samsung said, “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.“

Ballie is a small, sphere-shaped robot with wheels. It runs Tizen OS and is designed to help users in their homes. It can follow users, listen to their requests, fetch information from the internet, control smart home devices, check the calendar, play music through its speakers, and even project videos on a wall nearby or on the floor. It can even check up on pets in the home. It even got Google Gemini integration for better performance.

Everything Samsung learned from Ballie has been applied to some of its new products, including the Jet Bot Steam Ultra. However, it looks like Samsung isn't confident enough about Ballie's potential commercial success.

Several other brands, including LG, have showcased their own AI robots to at CES 2026. Most of them are designed to help users with their chores (like washing and folding laundry) or offer emotional support. So, Samsung cancelling Ballie at this time seems like a strange move.