Samsung has once again pushed Ballie into the background, with the long-teased home robot now looking increasingly unlikely to ever reach consumers.
First unveiled six years ago, Ballie is notably absent from this year’s CES, despite Samsung previously suggesting the rolling robot was close to a commercial release.
While the company stopped short of calling the project cancelled, it now describes Ballie as an internal research platform rather than a consumer product.
In a statement, Samsung said Ballie remains an “active innovation platform” used to shape future products, particularly around smart home intelligence, ambient AI, and privacy-by-design.
The company added that insights gained from Ballie have already influenced other devices, including robot vacuums and connected home hardware.
That language strongly suggests Ballie has been indefinitely shelved as a retail product.
Ballie has had a stop-start history since its debut at CES 2020, where the round yellow robot was pitched as a roaming smart home companion.
Samsung originally showcased features such as wall-projected video, pet monitoring, and control of lights and thermostats, drawing comparisons to a Star Wars droid.
The robot resurfaced at CES 2025 with tightly controlled demos, including movie projection, camera-based subject detection, and voice interaction. At the time, Samsung said Ballie would ship sometime in 2025.
Momentum appeared to build last June when Samsung announced a partnership with Google to power Ballie with the Gemini AI platform. A late-summer launch was targeted, but that deadline passed without an update.
Ballie’s absence is particularly striking at CES this year, where competitors such as LG Electronics are unveiling new consumer-focused robots.
For now, Samsung’s most charming robot looks destined to remain a concept that shaped products behind the scenes rather than one that ever rolled into living rooms.
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