The concept of a smart fridge goes back about a quarter century to prototypes with barcode scanners to track groceries. In 2016, Samsung introduced a kind of fridge nanny cam so you could view the contents when not at home. And in 2025, it introduced Vision AI, which could apply image recognition to the camera feeds in its Bespoke AI refrigerators. But the capabilities were limited. For instance, they could recognize 37 food items, such as various fresh fruits and vegetables. You could also teach them up to 50 packaged items.
Then along came Google Gemini – or specifically, Google’s push to take Gemini outside the chat window and into products including Google Maps and Android Auto, TVs, and home automation products. Now at CES, Samsung has announced that it is integrating Gemini into Vision AI. It’s featured in the new line of Bespoke AI Refrigerator Family Hub products. Samsung hasn't named exact models or prices yet, but, for reference, the current Bespoke AI 4-Door French Door lists for $3,399. Equipped with Gemini, the new models can recognize more foods, including processed foods. This enables a feature called “What’s for Today?” which recommends recipes using the items in the fridge.
A familiar capability
I have reason to believe it will work well, because I just used my phone and the Gemini app to do essentially the same thing. My fridge is rather bare, but a photo of a cupboard packed with about 30 items yielded a nearly complete accounting – even though many were partly obscured or even turned the wrong way. Gemini also proposed three innovative dishes: Mediterranean chickpea pasta, savory matcha oatmeal, and quick pantry fried rice.
The question is: Why do I need a premium-priced fridge to do what the smartphone in my pocket already does better? Samsung says that its fridge cannot identify food items in the fridge door bins or in the freezer. But by taking a few photos with my phone, I could capture all of that – as well as everything in the cupboards and on the countertop.
Read more: Meet Gemini Home: The AI Upgrade Google Assistant Needed
The AI Refrigerator Family Hub has many other features, however. It's a home automation hub, featuring a 32-inch display that lets you control a myriad of other connected devices (not only from Samsung) using the SmartThings home-automation platform. The fridge supports voice control and features a new capability to automatically open or close the doors when your hands are full. It also includes a Xenon sterilization system to keep the interior hygienic.
The AI also tracks the items coming into the fridge each week to recommend when to replenish and, yes, provide recipes with the most-bought items. Recipes can also activate other connected appliances to start the prep or cooking process.
Will most people want it?
Aside from the cost, consumers may balk at the further incursion of AI into their lives. In a 2024 Washington State University and Temple University study, hundreds of participants read otherwise-identical, fictional descriptions of products with and without mention of AI. Those without always proved more popular. The AI-enabled consumer product participants saw the least value in: a fridge.
“A ‘smart’ fridge often carries a premium price tag, requires regular software updates, and may raise privacy concerns if it tracks your groceries or eating habits,” researcher Dogan Gursoy told the Wall Street Journal (in an article I wrote). That same article included findings from a 2025 Parks Associates survey of about 4,000 Americans that showed similar skepticism of AI-enabled products, although less so among younger people.
AI moves fast, though, and so may our perceptions of it. But research indicates that smart appliance makers may still have some convincing to do – especially as “affordability” has become the watchword of these days.
[Image credit: Samsung]
From Susan McKinney on January 06, 2026 :: 5:33 pm
Before recommending any Samsung refrigerators, including the Bespoke models, please do research on the lawsuits, refunds, and massive amount of complaints by buyers. New Jersey Attorney General filed suit against the company a few years ago. There are Facebook groups for people who’ve bought these lemons because the company has known for many years of problems and have not fixed them. One group is Unnamed Broken Appliance Group U.S.A.. there are many others with Samsung in the name of the group. I know, because I own one that has still has problems!
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