Samsung Bespoke AI Refrigerators Rendered Inoperative by Faulty SmartThings Firmware Update in South Korea

A software distribution error has disabled Samsung Bespoke AI refrigerators in South Korea, leaving customers with spoiled food and facing extended repair timelines. On September 22, 2026, Samsung accidentally pushed internal test firmware to its Bespoke AI 4-Door refrigerators through the SmartThings platform, causing the appliances to stop cooling and become unresponsive to user controls. The timing proved particularly damaging: the outage occurred just days before Chuseok, South Korea's major three-day harvest festival (September 24–26), when households typically stock refrigerators with large quantities of food for holiday celebrations.