LG puts Microsoft Copilot on smart TVs - and you can't remove it

LG has rolled out Microsoft Copilot to its smart TVs—and made it impossible to remove. After a webOS update, the app takes a spot on the home screen; users can hide it, but not delete it. The decision leaves little room for user choice and has sparked criticism, especially with an interface that already feels busy and plenty of viewers who don’t plan to use an AI assistant.

Launching Copilot opens the service’s web version, where people can ask the AI questions. Rather than deep integration that could deliver viewing-based recommendations, the current setup sticks to basic functionality. At the same time, users have encountered a default-on feature called Live Plus that tracks habits and passes data to advertisers. It can be switched off in settings, but its presence underscores a growing push to collect data on smart TVs.

LG isn’t alone in adding AI to televisions: TCL offers similar capabilities with Google Gemini, and Samsung includes Microsoft Copilot on its TVs. Experts and users are still asking whether full-blown AI belongs on a TV when the same tools already live on phones and PCs. For now, LG hasn’t commented, and it’s unclear whether future webOS updates will let people remove Copilot.