Online fury erupted this week after an LG TV owner claimed that a firmware update installed unremovable generative AI software on their smart TV.
The controversy began on Saturday, when a Reddit user posted about the sudden appearance of a Microsoft Copilot icon on their device (something Windows users are all too familiar with). The Reddit user claimed that a “new software update installed Copilot” onto their LG TV and that it couldn’t be deleted.
“Pre-installed crap is universally dogshit. If I wanted it, I’d have installed it myself eventually. The whole reason it’s bundled is because no one would choose it… Burn your television,” another Reddit user responded in the thread, which has 36,000 upvotes as of this writing.
Some news outlets covered the move this week, reporting that LG customers were upset by an “unremovable Microsoft Copilot installation” and that other LG TV owners could expect to get it the next time they update their device.
LG has since admitted that it used a webOS update to force Copilot onto some of its TVs. However, the firmware update didn’t install the Copilot application but rather a shortcut to the Copilot web app, which opens in the TV’s integrated web browser, LG spokesperson Chris De Maria told The Verge. De Maria added that “features such as microphone input are activated only with the customer’s explicit consent.”
LG’s spokesperson said the company added the “shortcut icon to enhance customer accessibility and convenience.” LG, like other companies, has failed to prove why people need their non-computing devices, such as computer mice or earbuds, to provide instant access to third-party chatbots.