Samsung and Lifet Unveil AI Pet Health Screening That Works From a Galaxy Smartphone Photo

No additional hardware is required. The entire pipeline—capture, cloud analysis, and results—runs through the Samsung app. Lifet states its AI models were trained on 150,000 hospital-sourced images labeled by veterinary specialists, developed in collaboration with KAIST and Carnegie Mellon University .

What the AI can detect

During the VivaTech demonstration, Samsung confirmed the AI screens for three core condition groups :

• Dental and oral problems, including periodontal disease and tartar buildup
• Cataracts and nuclear sclerosis of the eye
• Patellar luxation, a kneecap dislocation common in small-breed dogs

Lifet's broader platform, already operating in South Korea, adds two more categories that are likely to appear in Samsung's rollout :

• Skin disease, including dermatitis
• Obesity, assessed through body condition scoring

Accuracy and the evidence behind it

Lifet prominently claims 97% accuracy for its AI . When asked for specifics, the company breaks the figure into standard diagnostic metrics: sensitivity of 97.6% (the AI's ability to correctly identify pets that have the condition) and specificity of 98.8% (its ability to correctly rule out pets that do not) .

These numbers have been verified by South Korea's Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency and the Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA), according to Lifet's official materials .

It is worth noting that no independent, peer-reviewed clinical trial data appears in the public sources provided. The accuracy claims originate from Lifet's own validation studies and government-recognized certification tests rather than published journal articles—a distinction that matters when interpreting the real-world reliability of the tool.

Regulatory approvals: Korea's first veterinary AI devices

Before the Samsung partnership, Lifet had already achieved two notable regulatory milestones in South Korea :

• First domestic veterinary medical device approval for patellar luxation diagnostic assistance software
• First domestic veterinary medical device approval for periodontal disease diagnostic assistance software

These Class 3 medical device approvals establish that South Korean regulators have reviewed the software's safety and performance for those specific conditions. The models are also used in pet insurance underwriting, suggesting a level of trust from the insurance industry in the AI's assessments .

However, these approvals are specific to the South Korean market. Samsung has not disclosed whether it intends to seek equivalent regulatory clearances in the United States, Europe, or other regions where it plans to launch the feature.

Where the tool fits into Samsung's bigger picture

The pet health screening is not a standalone project. It is one component of Samsung's Connected Care vision, which also debuted at VivaTech 2026 and includes several other health and wellness initiatives :

• Zeroth, a hospital-platform partnership for human health management
• Samsung Health-based wellness monitoring and proactive care features
• Family Care, which tracks the activity and wellbeing of elderly or vulnerable family members
• Bespoke AI Family Hub refrigerator, with AI Food Manager for diet tracking and recipe suggestions

On Galaxy devices, Pet Care sits inside Now Brief—Samsung's daily dashboard that surfaces Home Security, Energy reports, Family Care updates, and Home Insight recommendations . The architectural message is clear: Samsung sees pet health as a natural extension of its existing smart-home health monitoring, not a separate product line.

The unanswered questions: release date, supported devices, and pricing

Samsung remained conspicuously silent on the details that matter most to potential users. The company has not announced :

• A specific release date or even a target quarter
• Which Galaxy smartphone models will be supported
• Whether the feature will be free or require a subscription
• If it will be available globally or limited to specific markets

Lifet's standalone service currently operates in South Korea, where pet owners can use it directly through the Lifet app . Samsung's description of the feature as something that "will be rolled out in the future" suggests the integration is still under development .

This is screening, not diagnosis

Both companies have been careful to frame the tool as a home monitoring aid, not a replacement for professional veterinary care. Samsung describes it as a way to "monitor potential health issues at home" . Lifet's own website explicitly states that results indicate "possibility of disease" and are accompanied by veterinary commentary, reinforcing the screening purpose .

A review of veterinary AI literature supports the broader potential of image-based screening tools—research shows diagnostic accuracy in veterinary AI applications can reach above 90% in controlled settings —but also highlights significant variability when tools move from research conditions to real-world use on diverse phone cameras, breeds, and lighting conditions .

For now, Samsung's pet AI looks like a promising addition to the smart home, but one that raises as many questions about access, regulation, and real-world performance as it answers. Pet owners eager to try it should keep expectations grounded: it may flag a potential concern worth mentioning at the next vet visit, but it will not tell them what is wrong or what to do about it.