While the program is fundamentally similar to that of Apple Inc.'s Siri and Amazon's Alexa, Samsung claims Bixby is "smarter" and more intuitive than any of its rivals.

"Bixby is an intelligent interface that will help users get more out of their phone. With the new Bixby button, you will be able to conveniently access Bixby and navigate through services and apps with simple voice, touch and text commands," Samsung said in a release.

Samsung said Bixby is equipped with so-called "deep learning" artificial intelligence technology which allows it to learn how to better communicate with users as it accumulates data.

Users can activate Bixby by simply pressing a button on the left side of the phone.

The company said Bixby is capable of understanding complex sentences and orders from users. For example, instead of just "capture a photo," it can also understand "please capture the photo just taken and send it to someone."

The program is also capable of finding a product online simply by taking a photo of it.

Samsung said the Bixby "evolves" so that users will be given with customized contents.

Bixby, first introduced through the Galaxy S8, is currently connected to only eight applications. For now, Bixby cannot interact with other applications or send messages through KakaoTalk, the most popular mobile messenger in South Korea.

Samsung earlier said it plans to use its artificial intelligence program in all of its products, including TVs and other home appliances.

The company claimed its AI system will be different from rivals in terms of "completeness," "context awareness" and "cognitive tolerance."

Samsung plans to open the software development kit of the Bixby in order to induce more partners to join its own AI ecosystem. (Yonhap)