TECHNOLOGY

The Roku Channel is quietly becoming one of the biggest winners in the streaming wars, adding more than a dozen new free channels in March 2026 alone while rolling out user-requested features and leaning into AI personalization to keep viewers glued to ad-supported content without subscriptions.

Starbucks customers across the United States reported widespread issues with the company's mobile app Tuesday, with many unable to place orders, log in or complete payments during the morning rush as the coffee giant's digital platform experienced another disruption amid ongoing reliability concerns.

Meta Platforms Inc. shares slid more than 1% in morning trading Tuesday, dipping below $570 as the social media and advertising powerhouse navigates heavy artificial intelligence spending and a pullback from last year's highs, leaving investors debating whether to buy the dip or exercise caution ahead of first-quarter earnings later this month.

Anthropic's popular AI chatbot Claude went down again Tuesday, sparking a fresh wave of frustration among millions of users who rely on the service for everything from coding to creative work, as the company grapples with repeated reliability issues amid explosive demand in 2026.

Intel Corp. shares climbed more than 2.5% in early trading Tuesday as the semiconductor giant continues to ride optimism from a major deal that gives it full control of a key European manufacturing plant, part of a broader push to reclaim leadership in advanced chip production amid fierce AI competition.

Artificial intelligence video generation has matured dramatically in 2026, delivering near-cinematic results from simple text prompts, images or scripts in seconds rather than days. Creators, marketers and filmmakers now have powerful options for everything from short social clips to professional advertising and narrative storytelling.

Alphabet Inc. Class C shares (NASDAQ: GOOG) slipped 1.40 points, or 0.47%, to $296.26 in morning trading Tuesday, April 7, 2026, as investors continued to balance the company's aggressive artificial intelligence investments against ongoing antitrust pressures and broader market caution tied to geopolitical tensions.

Frustrated Spectrum customers across the United States are once again asking, "Is Spectrum internet down?" as reports of service disruptions continue to surface in 2026, marking what some users on Reddit describe as the 17th outage of the year so far.

Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Google's Pixel 10 Pro Fold represent the pinnacle of 2026 book-style foldables, pitting Samsung's ultra-slim design and raw power against Google's superior battery life, cameras and pure Android experience in a head-to-head battle that has divided reviewers and buyers since both devices launched last year.

Fresh leaks Tuesday detailed modest design refinements and a potentially staggered launch schedule for Apple's iPhone 18 lineup and the anticipated iPhone Air 2, as the tech giant prepares one of its most fragmented release cycles in years.

SEOUL, South Korea — As artificial intelligence continues to drive global technological advancement, South Korea has emerged as a formidable player in 2026, blending deep-pocketed conglomerates with agile startups to challenge industry leaders like OpenAI and NVIDIA.

Social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, faced renewed user complaints Tuesday as reports of problems with the mobile app and news feed spiked, leaving many unable to refresh timelines or load content smoothly on April 7, 2026.

Samsung Electronics has officially announced the discontinuation of its long-standing Samsung Messages app, with the service set to end in July 2026 as the company fully transitions Galaxy smartphone and tablet users to Google Messages for a more consistent Android messaging experience.

Bluesky, the decentralized social media platform often positioned as an alternative to X, faced intermittent outages in the US East region Monday, with users reporting difficulties accessing the app, loading feeds and viewing timelines, according to the company's official status page and crowd-sourced trackers.

Elon Musk spotlighted Tesla's Full Self-Driving (Supervised) technology Monday, reposting data showing the system is roughly seven times safer than the average U.S. human driver and sparking fresh debate about the pace of autonomous vehicle adoption.

Charter Communications' Spectrum internet service experienced scattered user-reported disruptions Monday, with complaints centering on Wi-Fi connectivity, broadband slowdowns and intermittent outages in multiple regions, even as the company's official monitoring tools indicated no widespread system-wide failure.

SAN FRANCISCO — Anthropic's popular Claude AI platform faced scattered user complaints of access problems Monday, with many reporting login failures particularly affecting Claude Code and the desktop app, while the official status page showed an unresolved incident involving elevated errors on claude.ai dating back to April 6.

The United Kingdom's artificial intelligence sector has solidified its position as Europe's leading AI hub in 2026, with more than 5,800 AI companies contributing over £45 billion to the national economy and delivering substantial productivity gains across industries.

BERLIN — Germany's artificial intelligence sector has surged into 2026 as one of Europe's most dynamic tech ecosystems, with nearly 1,000 AI startups raising billions in funding and delivering breakthroughs in language models, defense systems, generative imagery and enterprise automation.

Elon Musk on Monday amplified sharp criticism of California's approach to homelessness, quoting a lengthy video clip in which he describes a "homeless industrial complex" as "really dark" and labels some nonprofits "drug zombie farmers" whose funding depends on keeping people on the streets.

Here are 10 key things you must know about Samsung's decision to discontinue its Messages app in July 2026 and transition users to Google Messages.

Samsung Electronics will discontinue its long-running Samsung Messages app in July 2026, officially ending support for the native messaging application on Galaxy devices and directing millions of users to adopt Google Messages as the default SMS and RCS platform.

LOS ANGELES — Once known primarily for Hollywood glamour and entertainment, Los Angeles has solidified its position as a thriving center for artificial intelligence innovation in 2026, attracting talent, investment and ambitious startups that blend cutting-edge technology with the city's creative and entrepreneurial spirit.

A viral X post warning that Anthropic is building an AI primed to "turn against humanity" because of what the poster called a "woke rabbit hole" and a flawed moral framework has ignited fresh debate over the high-stakes battle for control of artificial intelligence's future, just as leading executives predict superintelligent systems could surpass collective human intelligence by 2030.

Spotify is fully operational as of Monday, April 6, 2026, with no widespread outages or major service disruptions affecting the popular music and podcast streaming platform, according to the company's official status page and real-time monitoring sites.

Google Maps, used by more than 2 billion people worldwide, continues to evolve with artificial intelligence enhancements in 2026, unveiling powerful yet often overlooked functions that transform routine navigation into a smarter, more intuitive experience.

iCloud is fully operational as of Monday, April 6, 2026, with no widespread outages reported across Apple's suite of cloud services, according to the company's official System Status page and third-party monitoring sites.

SpaceX has pushed its Starlink megaconstellation past the 10,000-satellite mark in orbit, a milestone that underscores the company's rapid dominance of low-Earth orbit and its ambition to deliver high-speed internet to every corner of the planet, according to a widely shared social media post and tracking data released Sunday.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — NVIDIA Corp. shares, trading around $177 as of early April 2026, continue to draw strong buy recommendations from Wall Street analysts amid explosive demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure, even as some investors question lofty valuations and potential near-term hurdles.