Nobody shipped the AI home: Why LG vs Samsung at IFA 2026 is the wrong fight
This essay compares LG and Samsung’s smart home strategies at IFA 2026, focusing on what is truly available to consumers. I will offer a brief roadmap before examining each company’s approach, and close with practical recommendations for buyers.
Let me make one thing clear before we continue: it’s not really possible to compare these two ecosystems this year since neither company is in fact selling their principal products. LG’s ThinQ Claw is merely a demonstration and has no price or release date attached to it. As Samsung says, its new Bespoke AI washers are still in development and are only on show. At this stage, deciding which is the better option is nothing more than seeing which press release appears more convincing.
The strategies pursued by the various companies are quite different. LG has gone further than any other major appliance manufacturer in the area of openness, indeed basing its home agent on an open-source platform that is less than two years old. Samsung, by contrast, is making use of AI from Google, Perplexity, and Microsoft, while at the same time already having its own hardware in millions of homes.
One method is more exciting, whereas the other is most likely more practical. Still, neither company has replied to the main question I’m interested in: what the agent remembers and for how long?
IFA 2026 has begun at Messe Berlin. Both of the major Korean companies had the same message displayed on their walls, and this message was not the name of a product. It was the word ‘companion’. Samsung’s theme is ‘Your Companion to AI Living’ and LG’s is ‘Innovation in tune with you’, accompanied by a home agent which it describes as one that remembers your likes and dislikes.
What struck me when I read both press releases was that a great deal of the stuff which is being described as new this week had in fact been announced at IFA the previous year.
The conversational feature, Samsung’s Vision AI Companion, which is the main focus of most coverage, was introduced at IFA 2025 (Samsung Newsroom, 2025). Likewise, LG’s ThinQ ON, the cylindrical device presented as the core of its AI Home, also made its debut at IFA 2025 and has already been available in Korea since 22 October 2025 at a price of ₩246,000, which is about $172 (LG Newsroom, 2025); both products are now one year old and are being re-staged.
It’s nothing out of the ordinary since consumer electronics companies tend to reintroduce products on an annual basis and all the people present are aware of this. The result is that the actual changes for 2026 are less significant than they appear. So, if you’re trying to decide which system to purchase, you should first check which models are actually available for sale as opposed to those that are merely being demonstrated.
Roadmap: First, I’ll clarify what’s genuinely new and available from each company; then, I’ll compare their technical and philosophical approaches; finally, I’ll provide actionable recommendations.
If you look more closely, you’ll see that even though both companies are giants in consumer electronics and the entire discussion is about smart homes, they haven’t provided prices for their primary AI products. While the washing machines do have prices, the AI features don’t.
LG’s Bet: Open All the Way Down
LG has been working on this for two years, and, in my opinion, the industry does not fully appreciate how far they’ve come with it.
In December 2024, the ThinQ API was made available to developers (LG Newsroom, 2024). LG acquired Athom (the maker of Homey), and Homey now serves as the interoperability layer for LG, supporting Matter, Thread, Zigbee, Z-Wave, Wi-Fi, and many device types (IFA Berlin, 2026). Homey Pro automations run locally, with the cloud as an option.
What LG did that I didn’t actually expect coming from a large Korean appliance company was to build ThinQ Claw on OpenClaw.
OpenClaw is an open-source, self-hosted agent framework that connects language models to real tools like files and APIs. Launched in late 2025, it quickly became one of the fastest-growing open-source projects (arXiv 2605.23330, Jin et al., 2026), thanks to its modular skills and self-activating ‘heartbeat’ feature.
LG’s approach to the smart home goes beyond offering a voice assistant that helps you be better understood; it involves an autonomous agent built on an open framework that can act independently and control your appliances.
I consider that an ambitious step, and I doubt that LG has taken into account all the consequences.
The downside of using a rapidly evolving open framework is increased risk, especially around security, privacy, and ethics. Concerns include persistent storage, external tools, cross-context data, multi-user access, and reliance on third-party plugins.
In a home, these issues mean devices remember your activities, agents link data across devices, multiple users may have access, and plugins could control sensitive functions like door locks.
These features make agents more useful but also riskier. LG hasn’t provided concrete plans to manage these risks, though open-source communities could help improve security over time.
Samsung’s Bet: Rented Intelligence on Owned Infrastructure
Samsung’s method may not be very exciting, but it’s much more likely to end up in your home soon.
Samsung hasn’t built a dedicated home agent. Instead, it integrates Gemini, Perplexity, and Microsoft Copilot into its TVs, and uses AI Vision in its fridges. Galaxy AI powers phones, and Bixby manages appliance voice control.
The research that I was using referred to this as “Google Perplexity”, but that is incorrect and it’s important to get it right since the mistake conceals the real strategy. Perplexity is a company that operates independently of Samsung has sent out a standalone Perplexity application for its TVs. Samsung is not working with a single AI provider; instead, it is bringing together three competing ones within its own interface. This is a deliberate approach: Samsung wants to act as the surface, not as the provider of the AI model.
However, Samsung is not emphasising anything, and, in fact, that is their main strength.
Since 2022, Samsung TVs and appliances have included Thread border routers, giving many households hidden smart home infrastructure (Samsung Newsroom, 2022). In 2026, Samsung enabled direct connection of IKEA Matter-over-Thread devices (like bulbs and sensors) to SmartThings, with prices starting at $5.99 (IFA Berlin, 2026).
LG pursues technological progress, but its innovations aren’t yet available, while Samsung focuses on practical products, like $6 smart bulbs that work with existing hardware. Neither company has a complete, purchasable system; what matters now is what’s actually on sale.
I have a good idea as to which one will win more homes this year.
The Convergence Nobody Is Selling
If you take some time to look at both press kits, the differences begin to disappear. On many occasions, these two so-called competing ecosystems are in fact very similar.
It should be noted regarding the washers that both companies are claiming an efficiency of 70 per cent, which is exactly the minimum required for an EU Class A rating. “A-70%” is merely the EU energy label and not something new. The fact that both companies have achieved the same figure at the same time indicates that their aim is to obtain the label rather than to beat each other.
The monitor competition is even more entertaining. LG demonstrated a panel with a frequency of 1,000Hz, while Samsung presented one at 1,100Hz. In fact, no one is actually able to see the difference.
The Robot Conducting the Orchestra
Let me take a moment to discuss one of the exhibits since LG highlighted it.
LG’s booth features the AI Orchestra, run by CLOiD, a humanoid robot that debuted at CES 2026. The demonstration shows CLOiD starting laundry, removing clothes from the dryer, and folding them.
The technology is impressive, and the display does look good, but I believe the way it’s presented is wrong, and I won’t change my mind just because the booth is attractive.
“Zero Labour Home” presents a vision where machines take over all household tasks, but it’s debatable whether this is desirable or necessary.
The situation with the appliances is another matter. I am only worried about the humanoid robot.
The Customer Is Not You
The aspect of both companies’ strategies which received the least attention is actually the one that shows the most.
This week LG made its debut in Europe with ThinQ Pro, a management layer that covers multi-family residential and commercial buildings, appliances and HVAC systems. Samsung has SmartThings Pro, which it introduced in February at the AHR trade show, and it is aimed at HVAC contractors and building owners in the multifamily housing, retail, hospitality, and office sectors. Samsung is carrying out proof-of-concept integrations with ABB’s building platform at three locations this year.
The real business model is selling AI management systems to building owners, not individual households. These systems handle HVAC and maintenance for many apartments, making them more attractive for commercial buyers than for private consumers.
Most people will first encounter AI-powered homes as tenants in buildings equipped by owners for easier management—not by personal choice. Future residents may have less control over settings than expected.
The Question Neither of Them Answered
Here’s what I was hoping to learn in Berlin, but neither company provided an answer.
What does the agent retain and for how long? The key claim of ThinQ Claw is that it recalls your preferences and dislikes and creates a context based on your schedule, routines, and sensors. LG has not published a retention policy concerning those conversations, has not stated which model is used for them, and has not said whether the inference takes place on the hub or in a data centre. The fact that Homey is designed to operate locally is a real advantage for LG, but the fact that it runs your automations locally doesn’t tell you where the agent’s chat context is stored.
Where do the images from the fridge camera end up? Samsung’s Family Hub takes a photograph inside your refrigerator and sends it somewhere for recognition, with Gemini’s involvement. However, it is not stated in any of the releases I have seen whether those images are temporary or permanent, and which retention policy applies to them.
What are the default settings for both companies? Does the voice assistant remain in a state of constant listening? Is the camera one that you have to switch on yourself? Does the agent retain memories even after a factory reset? What can another person living in the house see?
They are not just rhetorical questions.
As evidence from LG’s own published security documentation, such as the LG Shield overview presented at IFA 2026 (LG Newsroom, 2026), shows, the company does recognise certain risks, including the collection of data from multiple sources and the implications of permanent local storage.
In the case of Samsung, its press materials and privacy notices state that camera and voice data are sent to external AI service providers, namely Gemini, Perplexity, and Microsoft Copilot, for processing (Samsung Privacy Notice, 2026). Although both companies highlight their own security measures (LG Shield for LG and Knox for Samsung), these systems primarily focus on data encryption and secure transmission protocols for data in transit.
Yet the security documents supplied by both LG and Samsung fail to explain where personal data is ultimately stored or how long it is retained, thus leaving unresolved the key questions about long-term data stewardship.
What I’d Actually Do
Scenario 1: If you already own a Samsung TV (2022 or later), you have a built-in Thread border router. Start by adding affordable IKEA Matter-over-Thread bulbs or sensors; try smart lighting and motion sensors before committing to higher-value devices like fridges or washing machines. Test automations for daily routines: for example, set hallway lights to turn on at sunset, or get a notification if a water leak sensor detects moisture. This allows you to assess reliability and privacy settings on a small scale before expanding your setup.
Scenario 2: If you want deep control and customization, consider LG’s platform with Home Assistant and ThinQ API. For example, if you’re an advanced user managing multiple brands (e.g., Philips Hue bulbs, Zigbee sensors, LG appliances), you can use Home Assistant to build automations that span across devices and keep all data local. Set up routines such as: when you leave for work, the system locks the door, turns down the thermostat, and sends a confirmation to your phone. Just remember, buy LG products for their appliance quality, not for ThinQ Claw, which remains a prototype.
The real takeaway is that the market is shaped more by available products than by corporate rivalry or technological hype. The central debate is between local versus cloud-based systems, and open-source versus proprietary models. This shapes user control and innovation, but for now, actual choices are limited.
In summary, choose based on what’s on sale now, not on future promises. For practical setups, Samsung’s infrastructure is more accessible today; for flexibility and control, LG offers more potential, but key features remain unavailable. The critical question, how your data is managed has not yet been answered by either company. Watch for real product launches and transparent policies before deciding.
Reporting based on LG and Samsung newsroom releases for IFA 2026, IFA Berlin show information, arXiv 2605.23330 (Jin, Zhang, Lyu, Ni, 22 May 2026), and trade coverage from Berlin. No hands-on testing: every AI product named as a demo above was observed through company materials, not used. Prices, where absent, are absent because neither company has announced them.
