Apple’s customers aren’t asking for these kinds of upgrades to iMessage. They’re satisfied with what’s there, so the only reason Apple would change things up is because carriers are demanding it. That’s the only way this is going to move forward and to be honest it’s getting kinda sad watching Google keep trying to just shame Apple into caring. They won’t and don’t.
And to be real frank, Google doesn’t even want to run a domain registrar anymore. I’m not lining up to try out any new Google tech. They’ve lost that trust. I’d rather convince all my friends to use Signal.