TECHNOLOGY

BRUSSELS — Belgium has emerged as one of Europe's most dynamic artificial intelligence hubs in 2026, with a thriving ecosystem blending world-class research from imec, strong government support and a wave of well-funded startups delivering practical AI solutions across industries.

AUSTIN, Texas — Elon Musk urged fans Friday to download the Tesla Robotaxi app immediately after the company rolled out a significant update featuring new safety tips, a darker user interface and clearer guidance on how the autonomous vehicles operate in limited service areas.

BENGALURU, India — India's artificial intelligence ecosystem has surged into global prominence in 2026, with more than 1,700 AI-focused companies and startups driving innovation in foundational models, healthcare diagnostics, enterprise automation and sovereign infrastructure.

SEOUL, South Korea — Samsung Electronics will discontinue its long-running Samsung Messages app in July 2026, the company confirmed this week, marking the end of an era for the in-house messaging service that shipped with Galaxy devices for more than 15 years.

PARIS — France has solidified its position as Europe's leading artificial intelligence hub in 2026, with more than 750 AI-focused companies driving innovation in foundational models, healthcare, enterprise platforms and defense applications. Backed by massive government investment under the France 2030 plan and strong venture capital inflows, French AI firms are challenging U.S. dominance while advancing European technological sovereignty.

Zelle, the popular person-to-person digital payment network used by millions of Americans for quick money transfers, experienced intermittent disruptions Thursday, leaving some users unable to send or receive payments as reports of errors and pending transactions spiked on outage tracking sites.

ATLANTA — United Parcel Service Inc.'s website faced scattered user complaints of slowdowns and access glitches Thursday, with some customers unable to track packages or log into accounts as the delivery giant pushes through a major network overhaul and facility closures.

HubSpot users in North America experienced temporary disruptions to activity tracking and event processing Wednesday morning, prompting a wave of complaints on social media and outage trackers, though the company's official status page reported the issue as resolved by midday with all core systems now operational.

As artificial intelligence accelerates from hype to infrastructure in 2026, a select group of CEOs stands out for turning bold ideas into transformative realities across technology, energy, space and computing. These leaders are not just managing companies — they are redefining what's possible in an era when physical AI, agentic systems and accelerated computing dominate boardroom conversations.

NEW YORK — Verizon Communications customers across the United States are not experiencing a widespread service outage Thursday, April 9, 2026, according to real-time monitoring sites and the carrier's own network status tools.

MILAN — Italy's artificial intelligence sector is gaining momentum in 2026, with a mix of established enterprise players, fast-growing startups and deep-tech ventures pushing boundaries in healthcare, legal tech, robotics, finance and content generation. While the country still trails larger European hubs in total venture funding, Italian AI companies are attracting international attention through specialized applications that leverage the nation's strengths in manufacturing, design and regulated industries.

AUSTIN, Texas — Elon Musk lit up X on Thursday with a 10-second AI-generated video that has already racked up more than 2.2 million views in hours, featuring a grinning Musk in a traditional Japanese yukata and headband, proudly introducing his "cool" Shiba Inu companion — also sporting matching flag headbands and tiny glasses.

CUPERTINO, Calif. — After years of speculation and delays, Apple Inc. appears poised to finally enter the foldable smartphone market with its first folding iPhone, expected to be unveiled in September 2026 alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max models.

SAN FRANCISCO — The once-mighty Digg, a pioneer of social news aggregation that helped shape the early Web 2.0 era, mounted a high-profile comeback in early 2026 with backing from its original founder Kevin Rose and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian.

Gmail, Google's ubiquitous email service used by billions worldwide, showed no signs of a widespread outage Thursday as independent monitoring sites and Google's official status dashboard confirmed all systems operational.

Microsoft 365 and its flagship email service Outlook appeared fully operational Thursday with no widespread outages disrupting millions of users worldwide, easing concerns after scattered reports of connectivity issues earlier in the week.

A cascade of major cloud and server outages throughout 2025 exposed the fragility of the world's digital infrastructure, with analysts estimating that unplanned IT downtime inflicted hundreds of billions of dollars in global economic losses as businesses, governments and consumers grew ever more reliant on always-on services.

US Mobile, a fast-growing mobile virtual network operator known for flexible prepaid plans across major U.S. carriers, announced Wednesday it will launch "Starlink One" on Thursday — a bundled offering that combines unlimited cellular service on three major networks with reliable Starlink satellite home internet in a single plan.

Elon Musk's SpaceX holds a commanding lead in the intensifying rivalry with Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, launching more rockets, deploying thousands of satellites and securing key NASA contracts, even as both billionaires pivot aggressively toward lunar ambitions in 2026 amid a broader U.S. push to beat China back to the Moon.

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea's ballistic missile program continues its relentless pace in 2026, with frequent short-range launches, upgrades to solid-fuel engines for intercontinental systems and a clear focus on survivable, nuclear-capable weapons that can threaten South Korea, Japan and the U.S. mainland.

Apple is gearing up for a significant update to its popular iPad mini lineup later this year, with reliable leaks pointing to the long-awaited addition of an OLED display, a more powerful processor and other enhancements that could make the compact tablet even more competitive against larger iPad models and rival devices.

WASHINGTON — As U.S. and Israeli forces have unleashed more than 11,000 strikes on Iranian targets since late February 2026, Palantir Technologies' artificial intelligence systems have emerged as a central tool in the Pentagon's targeting operations, compressing what military planners call the "kill chain" from days to minutes and enabling a tempo of attacks unprecedented in modern warfare.

SEATTLE — Amazon has begun distributing software update 5.19.3.0.1 for its latest Kindle e-readers, offering a corrected version of a problematic March 2026 firmware release that was quickly pulled due to severe battery drain, sluggish performance and other glitches.

YouTube appeared to suffer another widespread disruption Wednesday, leaving millions of users worldwide unable to load videos, with reports of blank homepages, endless buffering and error messages flooding social media and outage trackers as the platform's massive audience scrambled for alternatives.

Humanoid robots are no longer prototypes gathering dust in labs. In 2026, they are clocking shifts on factory floors, unloading trailers and even folding laundry in pilot homes. Global shipments topped 13,317 units in 2025 and are accelerating fast, with Chinese manufacturers claiming 87% of volume while U.S. firms lead on AI sophistication and valuation.

SAN FRANCISCO — Anthropic's popular AI chatbot Claude is experiencing renewed connectivity issues Wednesday, April 8, 2026, with hundreds of users reporting login failures, chat errors and degraded performance less than 24 hours after the company resolved a "major outage" that disrupted service on April 7.

CUPERTINO, Calif. — With roughly five months until Apple's expected September 2026 unveiling, rumors about the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are intensifying, painting a picture of one of the most significant Pro lineup refreshes in recent years.

SINGAPORE — As Singapore cements its position as Southeast Asia's AI powerhouse in 2026, a dynamic ecosystem of homegrown champions and global players is driving breakthroughs in fintech, retail analytics, healthcare, and enterprise automation. Backed by strong government support through the National AI Strategy 2.0, generous R&D incentives, and events like GITEX AI Asia, these companies are not only transforming local industries but also expanding influence across the region and beyond.

SEOUL, South Korea — Samsung Electronics Co. on Tuesday reported the strongest quarterly results in South Korean corporate history, posting a preliminary operating profit of 57.2 trillion won ($37.9 billion) for the first quarter of 2026 — an eye-popping 755% jump from a year earlier and nearly matching the company's all-time annual profit record from 2018.