Samsung first showcased its rolling robot, Ballie, at CES six years ago. Since then, the company has periodically updated the concept, unveiling a new design with a built-in projector in 2024 and adding AI features last year.
At CES 2025, Samsung promised that Ballie would launch later in the year, but that never happened. Now, a new report suggests the project may have been shelved indefinitely. Although Samsung hasn’t made an official announcement, Bloomberg reports that the company has had a change of plans. Instead of launching Ballie as a consumer product, the robot will now serve as an “active innovation platform” for internal use only.
In a statement to the publication, Samsung said, “After multiple years of real-world testing, it continues to inform how Samsung designs spatially aware, context-driven experiences, particularly in areas like smart home intelligence, ambient AI and privacy-by-design.” Ballie’s technology, the company added, will continue to shape future smart home devices, even if the robot itself never hits store shelves.
Samsung shelves its rolling robot as competitors double down on humanoid helpers
While Samsung may have shelved Ballie, other brands are pushing forward with their AI robot ambitions for smart homes. However, unlike Samsung’s rolling design, LG and SwitchBot are betting on humanoid robots built to assist with household chores. LG has yet to share pricing or availability details for its CLOiD robot, which is designed to handle tasks like cleaning and laundry.
SwitcBot plans to open pre-orders for its onero H1 soon, a robot butler demoed to navigate homes autonomously and assist with routine tasks like making coffee and folding the laundry. Whether these robots actually reach consumers remains to be seen.
