Samsung just got called out on its AI photo manipulation problem, and the company's response was telling. At a Q&A panel following its latest Unpacked event, The Verge confronted four top smartphone executives about the growing divide between users who want AI-enhanced photos and those worried about deepfakes eroding photographic truth. The world's second-largest smartphone maker, which lost its crown to Apple in 2025, didn't have a clear answer about implementing C2PA metadata standards that could help verify photo authenticity.
Samsung found itself in an uncomfortable spotlight Thursday morning when a reporter asked the question the company apparently wasn't ready to answer. Fresh off its latest Unpacked event, four top smartphone executives sat down for what should have been a routine Q&A session. Instead, they got confronted with one of the most pressing issues facing mobile photography today - and their response, or lack thereof, speaks volumes about where the industry stands on AI deepfakes.
The question cut straight to the heart of the matter: society is splitting between people who want AI to make their photos look amazing and those who don't want AI touching their images at all because it's destroying our ability to trust what we see. It's not a theoretical concern anymore. We're watching photographic evidence lose its credibility in real-time, and Samsung, as the world's second-largest smartphone manufacturer, sits right in the middle of this crisis.
What makes Samsung's position particularly interesting is its recent fall from grace. Until 2025, the company held the title of world's largest smartphone maker, which also made it the biggest camera manufacturer on the planet by sheer volume. Apple overtook that position, and now Samsung's fighting to differentiate itself in an increasingly crowded market where AI photo features have become a key battleground. But that differentiation comes with a cost - user trust.
