Kittlaus has described Viv as a computer science breakthrough, capable of creating its own programming. By his gauge, other assistants responses are hardcoded, while Viv seeks to understand its user, and then figure out how to respond. He demonstrated the technology at TechCrunch Disrupt in May, and told the site today, that Samsung's scale (shipping 500 million devices a year) creates the ubiquity necessary for Viv to thrive. There's no word on how much Samsung spent to bring the tech into its fold, but now the real question is how quickly can the company deliver it to customers -- its Mobile CTO Injong Rhee says to expect Viv on phones in the second half of 2017.