Samsung Halts Update After AI Refrigerators Shut Down

Summary

Samsung has stopped a SmartThings update after some Bespoke AI 4-Door refrigerators shut down when owners installed it in South Korea on September 22, days before the Chuseok holiday. Reports from Samsung Members, Star News Korea, and SBS News described units with no interior light, an unresponsive touch panel, loss of cooling, or displays stuck on “updating.” Most affected appliances were from the Bespoke AI 4-Door line launched from 2024 onward. ZDNet Korea attributed the incident to a system error that mistakenly delivered internal test software to customers; Samsung said it detected the deployment error and halted distribution. The company apologized, asked owners to arrange in-person engineer visits, and advised moving food to ice boxes while waiting. Some customers said the booking system was also overloaded, while at least one service centre reportedly could not visit until after the holiday. Samsung Electronics Service said engineers and call-centre staff would remain on duty during the break for urgent cooling failures, citing September 26 and 27. Samsung has not disclosed the number of affected refrigerators or announced compensation for spoiled food, leaving some owners to use measures such as dry ice.