The Ballie Mystery: Samsung Removes Official Page — Is This the End of the Road?

During CES 2020, Ballie, a small rotating robot capable of understanding and reacting to different needs, designed to be an active helper at home (also thanks to the input of artificial intelligence). The device was scheduled for last summer, but the launch was postponed and now its commercialization seems to have been cancelled. Is this the end of Samsung’s ball-shaped robot assistant?

Samsung Ballie may have been cancelled: goodbye to the yellow, oddly shaped little robot

Over the years Samsung Ballie has gained features: the robot was designed to function as a personal assistant and hub for the smart home, with the support of Gemini on Google Cloud. Artificial intelligence was the last highlight before the end: as anticipated at the opening, the launch was planned for summer 2025 in Korea and the United States, but things went differently.

After the postponement, its traces were lost and after being among the protagonists of the CES in Las Vegas for several years, 2026 began with the absence of the little robot from the US tech stage. The dedicated page to Ballie — where it was possible to sign up to receive updates on availability — has been removed.

Clicking on the link redirects to Samsung’s main projector page, but there is no sign of the robot. In January Bloomberg’s colleagues contacted Samsung to learn more about the device’s status, but the company’s spokesperson described Ballie as a “an active innovation platform”.

Not exactly the precise definition you would give to a smart home robot, so a first gentle sign of the end of the project. With the disappearance of the Ballie dedicated page it seems this has now reached the end of the line.

Why has Ballie disappeared from the radar?

What prompted such a abrupt pivot? The most plausible hypothesis is that Samsung had difficulties defining Ballie’s market positioning: the Jet Bot vacuum cleaner is AI-powered and sweeps floors, but exactly what would have been the real role of the ball-shaped assistant?

Ballie integrated a projector and Gemini, but beyond that it did not have other features, apart from acting as a hub. Additionally, rumors spoke of a hefty price tag around $2,000; and it’s worth noting the little robot had already been reconsidered once.

The 2020 model was smaller, tennis-ball-sized and thought of more as an athletic assistant and a companion for pets. Things changed with the 2024 comeback in a renewed form, larger and with the features we have already seen so far.

It’s unreal to think of yet another redesign by Samsung, so it’s highly likely the little robot has been shelved, perhaps in light of other smart home solutions.