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Samsung Is Discontinuing Its Texting App, Tells Impacted Users to Switch to Google Messages

Samsung unveils its latest Galaxy smartphones during a showcase in San Francisco, Feb. 25, 2026. (AP)
Samsung unveils its latest Galaxy smartphones during a showcase in San Francisco, Feb. 25, 2026. (AP)
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Samsung Is Discontinuing Its Texting App, Tells Impacted Users to Switch to Google Messages

Samsung unveils its latest Galaxy smartphones during a showcase in San Francisco, Feb. 25, 2026. (AP)
Samsung unveils its latest Galaxy smartphones during a showcase in San Francisco, Feb. 25, 2026. (AP)

Samsung is saying goodbye its namesake texting app.

According to an end of service announcement published on the tech giant's US support website, Samsung Messages will be discontinued in July. Impacted owners of Samsung smartphones and other gadgets are being asked to switch to Google Messages in the meantime, “to maintain a consistent messaging experience on Android.”

All Samsung Galaxy phones run on Google's Android operating system. To switch to Google Messages, Samsung's website gives users instructions to download the app from the Play Store, if not already on their phone, and set it as the default. Some people may also receive an in-app notification to guide them through the process.

Samsung says switching to Google Messages will give users access to updates like the latest artificial intelligence features from Google's Gemini — which includes an experimental feature called “Remix” to generate images during conversations and AI-powered reply suggestions — and the ability to share higher quality photos between Android and Apple iOS devices through RCS-enabled messages.

Users of older Android operating systems (dating back to Android 11 or older) will not be impacted by the end of Samsung Messages, the company noted. To check what Android OS you have on a Samsung device, open the settings app, click on “software information” and scroll to “Android version.”

Meanwhile, owners of Samsung's latest Galaxy 26 lineup and other newer phones cannot download the Samsung Messages app from the Galaxy Store today.

All devices will no longer be able to download Samsung Messages after it's officially discontinued in July, the company noted. Samsung said users can check their app for the exact date for when service will go offline.

Beyond the US, Samsung did not immediately respond to a request for further information about whether its guidance for Samsung Messages was the same globally.

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Technology

Microsoft to Invest $10 bn for Japan AI Data Centers

Microsoft's Vice Chair and President Brad Smith (4th L) and (L-R) Sakura Internet Inc President and CEO Kunihiro Tanaka, SoftBank Corp. President and CEO Junichi Miyakawa, Microsoft Japan President Miki Tsusaka, hold a meeitng with Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (2nd R) and Vice Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Toshiro Ino (R) at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on April 3, 2026. Kazuhiro NOGI / POOL/AFP
Microsoft's Vice Chair and President Brad Smith (4th L) and (L-R) Sakura Internet Inc President and CEO Kunihiro Tanaka, SoftBank Corp. President and CEO Junichi Miyakawa, Microsoft Japan President Miki Tsusaka, hold a meeitng with Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (2nd R) and Vice Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Toshiro Ino (R) at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on April 3, 2026. Kazuhiro NOGI / POOL/AFP
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Microsoft to Invest $10 bn for Japan AI Data Centers

Microsoft's Vice Chair and President Brad Smith (4th L) and (L-R) Sakura Internet Inc President and CEO Kunihiro Tanaka, SoftBank Corp. President and CEO Junichi Miyakawa, Microsoft Japan President Miki Tsusaka, hold a meeitng with Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (2nd R) and Vice Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Toshiro Ino (R) at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on April 3, 2026. Kazuhiro NOGI / POOL/AFP
Microsoft's Vice Chair and President Brad Smith (4th L) and (L-R) Sakura Internet Inc President and CEO Kunihiro Tanaka, SoftBank Corp. President and CEO Junichi Miyakawa, Microsoft Japan President Miki Tsusaka, hold a meeitng with Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (2nd R) and Vice Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Toshiro Ino (R) at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on April 3, 2026. Kazuhiro NOGI / POOL/AFP

Microsoft said Friday it will invest $10 billion in Japan over the next four years to build artificial intelligence data centers and related infrastructure.

Power-hungry data centers -- warehouse-like facilities that power AI tools from chatbots to image generators -- are springing up worldwide, and the sector is growing particularly fast in Asia.

Microsoft President Brad Smith met Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at her office on Friday to announce the investment, said AFP.

Smith said in a statement that it was a "response to Japan's growing need for cloud and AI services".

Businesses in Japan, the world's fourth-largest economy, are keen to get ahead in the fast-moving AI field.

But data centers expansion there is constrained by limited space and relatively expensive electricity.

The US tech giant will collaborate with Japan's SoftBank Group and Sakura Internet to expand domestic tech infrastructure, it said in a press release.

It follows a $2.9 billion two-year investment Microsoft announced in 2024 to bolster the country's push into AI and strengthen its cyber defenses.

The investment unveiled Friday also includes funds to enhance cybersecurity partnerships with Japanese government agencies, and to train one million engineers in cooperation with telecom and tech giants NTT and NEC.

A rush to build data centers in the Asia-Pacific region, especially in India and Southeast Asia, has sparked concerns over the facilities' environmental impact.

That includes increased demand on electricity grids that are often reliant on fossil fuels, and on local water supplies used to cool the hot servers inside.

Microsoft says it has pledged to become carbon negative, zero-waste and "water positive" by 2030.

On Tuesday, the company announced plans to invest more than $1 billion in cloud and AI data center infrastructure and operations in Thailand over the next two years.

Technology

Kia to Sell Lower-priced Electric Vehicle in US

A KIA logo on an electric vehicle is seen on display at the Canadian International AutoShow in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, February 13, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio
A KIA logo on an electric vehicle is seen on display at the Canadian International AutoShow in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, February 13, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio
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Kia to Sell Lower-priced Electric Vehicle in US

A KIA logo on an electric vehicle is seen on display at the Canadian International AutoShow in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, February 13, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio
A KIA logo on an electric vehicle is seen on display at the Canadian International AutoShow in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, February 13, 2025. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio

Kia said Wednesday it will begin selling a lower-priced electric vehicle in the United States later this year as automakers work to recharge EV sales.

The Korean automaker said at the New York Auto Show it will offer the EV3 in the US market starting later this year, Reuters reported.

Automakers are facing a tougher EV market in the United States after Congress repealed the $7,500 EV tax credit last year but higher gasoline prices in recent weeks has prompted new interest in the EVs.

Technology

Passengers Stranded in Moving Traffic after Robotaxi Outage in China

This file photo taken on August 1, 2024 shows a general view of a driverless robotaxi autonomous vehicle developed as part of tech giant Baidu's Apollo Go self-driving project, in Wuhan, in central China's Hubei province. (Photo by PEDRO PARDO / AFP)
This file photo taken on August 1, 2024 shows a general view of a driverless robotaxi autonomous vehicle developed as part of tech giant Baidu's Apollo Go self-driving project, in Wuhan, in central China's Hubei province. (Photo by PEDRO PARDO / AFP)
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Passengers Stranded in Moving Traffic after Robotaxi Outage in China

This file photo taken on August 1, 2024 shows a general view of a driverless robotaxi autonomous vehicle developed as part of tech giant Baidu's Apollo Go self-driving project, in Wuhan, in central China's Hubei province. (Photo by PEDRO PARDO / AFP)
This file photo taken on August 1, 2024 shows a general view of a driverless robotaxi autonomous vehicle developed as part of tech giant Baidu's Apollo Go self-driving project, in Wuhan, in central China's Hubei province. (Photo by PEDRO PARDO / AFP)

Some robotaxi passengers were left stranded in the middle of fast-moving traffic in a major Chinese city after their driverless vehicles stopped running, according to police and media reports on Wednesday.

A preliminary investigation indicates more than 100 robotaxis came to a halt because of a “system malfunction,” police in the city of Wuhan said in a statement, without elaborating. No injuries were reported.

One passenger told Chinese media that their robotaxi stopped after turning a corner. An instruction on a screen read: “Driving system malfunction. Staff are expected to arrive in 5 minutes.” After no one showed up, the passenger pushed an SOS button and was told that staff were on their way. The car door could be opened, so the passenger got out on their own.

It is the first time a mass shutdown of robotaxis has been reported in China, The Associated Press said. In December, many of Waymo’s self-driving cars came to a stop in San Francisco because of a power outage.

The taxis in Wuhan are operated by Baidu, a major Chinese internet and AI company that is expanding its Apollo Go robotaxi business to overseas locations in Europe and the Mideast.

Baidu did not have any immediate comment.

Police said reports that taxis were coming to a halt started coming in around 9 p.m., while media reports said multiple people were rescued.

While some passengers were able to exit their taxis on their own, others were afraid to get out because their vehicle had stopped in the middle lane of a ring road with other vehicles passing on both sides, the reports said. Ring roads are elevated roads without traffic lights designed to move traffic quickly in urban areas.

Baidu operates hundreds of robotaxis in Wuhan, which hosted an early pilot project for the company.