Google One VPN service will be closed this year – people just don’t use it

Google is shutting down its VPN service, which was provided as part of the Google One subscription. The announcement comes less than four years after its launch in October 2020. The company’s email does not specify when exactly this will happen, only that the VPN service will be discontinued “later this year,” The Verge reports.

Google One VPN subscriptions start at $1.99 and are available on Android, iOS, Mac, and Windows. The company said that it was shutting down the service because people simply don’t use it. Perhaps the reason is that it is actually one of three VPN services provided by Google. The company also offers VPNs, with the exception of unlimited use of Magic Editor. over Google Fi and VPN for Pixel devices.

In its closure email, Google noted that the VPN is being phased out to “focus on delivering the most wanted features and benefits,” which may be due to all the Gemini artificial intelligence technology the company is “pushing” into Google One.

Earlier this year, Google One reached 100 million subscribers, and CEO Sundar Pichai called it a future growth area thanks to artificial intelligence.

The company has also recently announced that AI editing tools in Google Photo will be free and available not only on Pixel devices in the coming months and will no longer require a subscription.