Samsung acquired Viv, a virtual assistant startup, and its team developed Siri

Samsung, the device maker, said today it had acquired Viv, a start-up that is building a virtual assistant based on artificial intelligence. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The move is clearly aimed at improving Samsung's existing products, perhaps the most prominent smartphone.

Samsung said in a statement: "through Viv, Samsung will be able to unlock and provide customers with a new service experience, including simplifying the user interface, understanding the user context and providing users with the most appropriate and convenient advice.

In fact, Samsung does need to do more to improve automatic context response to user input through voice recognition, and this acquisition should be of great help. Xin Wei's team previously helped create Apple's Siri virtual assistant.

But even this week, Google, behind Samsung's Android mobile operating system, unveiled a new first-party pixel smartphone featuring deep native integration with Google Assistant Virtual Assistant (Google Assistant Virtual Assistant), which first appeared in GoogleAllo messaging apps. In essence, the move shows that Google has surpassed one of its partners. Now Samsung has announced its response.

Timing also makes sense; Samsung's high-end Galaxy Note7 faces persistent problems, including recalls.

As for Viv, it was never really launched, and since its inception in 2012, two years after Apple's Siri acquisition, it has been silent about the technology that has been incubating. Investors include HorizonsVentures, IconiqCapital and Pricker Group Ventures.

According to the statement, the Viv team will continue to operate independently under the existing leadership.