As Samsung unveiled its latest Galaxy S24 smartphone lineup in China, the tech giant made an eyebrow-raising move to partner with local AI leader Baidu instead of its typical AI provider Google. The shift underscores Samsung’s struggles in recent years to regain momentum in the world’s largest smartphone market.

Rather than its typical integration of Google’s conversational AI into Galaxy devices, Samsung is tapping Baidu’s Ernie chatbot technology to enable AI translation, summarization and text formatting features in the Chinese version of the S24. There is still the real-time call translation capability and search enhancements familiar from the global launch.

“Now featuring Ernie’s understanding and generation capabilities, the upgraded Samsung Note Assistant can translate content and also summarize lengthy content into clear, intelligently organized formats at the click of a button,” the companies said in a joint statement.

The collaboration reflects Google‘s limited access in China, where Android devices are sold without Google mobile services pre-installed. Baidu, meanwhile, had to clear government hurdles to introduce Ernie publicly.

For Samsung, the world’s largest smartphone maker globally, the Baidu tie-up represents a play to reverse its slide in China over the past decade. Since once commanding a nearly 20% market share in 2013, Samsung had seen its position steadily erode to just 1% by 2018 amid intense competition from domestic Chinese brands.