1182
LG Update Installs Unremovable Microsoft Copilot on Smart TVs, Ignites Backlash
(www.webpronews.com)
Good.
Remind them who's in charge.
this post was submitted on 14 Dec 2025
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I have my TV on WiFi network that has no Internet access so at least I can control it via homeassistant still. It doesn't need Internet for anything but the UI so just get a shield and strip that down
This comes up a lot, and I don't necessarily get it. I have all smart TVs, and I just never, ever, EVER let them connect to wifi even ONCE for any reason. It's not like it NEEDS it for anything.
It’s not like it NEEDS it for anything.
I see this take online a lot, but in person, everywhere I go people play netflix and whatever directly on their TV. I think there might just be a huge divide in perspective between those with and without game consoles of some sort always connected to their TV.
I would assume that there are updates who could be useful or something? But as long as everything works, my tv has no connection to the outside world. Talk to the linux box if you want to know something.
I used to think this… but it’s just not true.
Device software updates only make your device worse now.
If it ABSOLUTELY MUST get online, you DO need to let it update for security purposes, but in most cases now when you buy it from the store, it’s got everything that needs and you just need to block it from getting online all-together.
My LG CX from 2021 has not been online even once since I bought it.
My tv wants to connect to the internet. I tell it to eat shit.
This right here is the answer. There are so many devices you can plug into those things that you don't really need the crap that they installed natively.
Totally, although the thing is I bet one day tvs will come with a built in sim card, or worst yet will disable themselves until there's an active internet connection or some other scummy method
I think they kind of do the active Internet part now. I don't watch television and haven't touched a TV for a long time, but recently I had to help a neighbour set his new smart TV up. It was one of the big brands, I don't remember if it was LG, Samsung or something else. The TV couldn't go through initial set up without me installing some app on his phone. If there was an option to skip I couldn't see where it was, I only assume that if it was possible it was intentionally made un-intuitive or hard to discover. And of course, if you want the TV to connect to the app you must connect it to Internet. Again, it may have been a failure on my part, but I wouldn't be supprised if they intentionally forced the user to do it this way.
Samsung had something similar on their cheaper phones (the A series) where during the initial set up it asks you to login or create a Samsung account and you have to jump through a couple of hoops to skip it, as well as some other part where I don't remember what the phone asked you to do, but the "Yes" option was blue, while the button to skip was intentionally colored the same or very similar shade of gray as an inactive button. So if the TV was Samsung I don't doubt for a second that they will do some shady practice like that.
That's the point when I will get a dumb corporate TV with a streaming dongle or media server connected via HDMI or DP...
Those don't really exist anymore though.
There are displays and I will get them.
If I can't afford it, I will not get any TV and use my computer or phone ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Fuck that whole industry. If they force me, I will do it another way.
Agreed. And that'll be the time I'm up in arms.
I need someone to explain to me, what situation could possibly arise that would require me to use Copilot on my fucking TV?
Don't think about what copilot can do for you that's some socialism talk!, think about how it could squeeze profits and data from your instead ~Microsoft lunatics
The same reason why windows has that stupid desktop search - so that some twat with an MBA can brag about user engagement and justify his existence. Also, to hoover up user data for slop machine training.
At least you can turn that search thing off!
I'll throw my money at any TV manfucturer that just sells me a dumb OLED TV with great picture quality. Heck, even drop the speakers, I won't be using them anyway. Just a dumb panel with plenty of input/outputs.
The LG TVs are basically that if you just ignore the LG ui. You can plug in whatever input you want and have it automatically go there on power on
I never see the LG UI. Only my nvidia shield
You'll never get a high quality panel like you want because there's only so many that produce the panels. And without a value add nobody makes any money.
Same here. Love my LG tv, but it only talks to my shield. And my other tv talks linux. But nvidia is also walking down an ad ridden possibly ai path.
The last time I said basically this same thing, someone recommended something…I think it was an industrial TV or something? I can’t remember!
is it that hard just to a regular TV? i think with all the AI backlash and Smart TV fatigue that's kinda a reasonable solution. Def won't hurt anybody
They kept telling me that capitalism gave us choices.
Lol.
technically, it's not capitalism but free market that provides choices. capitalism kinda fucking hates free market.
The companies making TVs don’t want to sell simple displays, they want to expand their businesses beyond just one time sales of hardware. So they and the store fronts don’t offer the average consumer a simple display. People can still find them, but they need to be actually looking for a dumb TV and know what to look for.
everything gotta be scaling, eh. seems like a dead end.
LG's recent software update has forcibly installed Microsoft Copilot, an AI assistant, on smart TVs without removal options, sparking widespread user backlash over privacy, bloatware, and loss of control. This highlights growing tensions in smart devices, where monetization often overrides user preferences.
Sure is ironic that the article summary is itself AI-generated.
Well LG did me a favor. Don't buy LG tvs, Samsung appliances or HP printers.
Well, at least LG has a range of TVs turned monitors, i.e. without all that "smart" shit. So they have a usable alternative, something other vendors don't.
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