Microsoft Copilot AI Comes to LG TVs, and Can't Be Deleted
95 comments
·December 15, 2025themafia
> Additionally, LG has a setting called "Live Plus" that Reddit users highlighted. When it's turned on, the TV can recognize what's displayed on screen and use that viewing information for personalized recommendations and ads. LG describes it as an "enhanced viewing experience,"
Ah. So it's not "AI." It's an "opportunity to spy on every single thing you do."
tzs
Those are completely separate. "Live Plus" is a TV setting that has nothing to do with Copilot and has been on their TVs for a long time.
baby_souffle
> has been on their TVs for a long time.
It's not just LG! They keep trying to shove "a return channel" into the latest ATSC standards for DRM and "enhanced / more accurate ratings".
measurablefunc
Every AI company is doing the same thing, there is nothing special about Microsoft in this instance. If you're using a 3rd party provider for your queries you can assume it is going to end up in the training corpus.
userbinator
"enhanced" (profit) for them, not for you.
brokenmachine
Surely if Copilot was so useful and great, it wouldn't be free and they wouldn't be trying to force it down unwilling people's throats at every opportunity.
I'm beginning to think this AI stuff isn't all it's cracked up to be...
pabs3
I wonder if it is possible to install a standard Linux distro on LG TVs. There is KDE Plasma Bigscreen for a TV-like experience on such distros.
If not, there are some webOS exploits on this wiki page:
https://wiki.debian.org/Exploits
Hopefully the Vizio lawsuit will mean the right to repair software comes to TVs more easily.
RayVR
I saw that rootmy.tv works for some versions of webos.
reactordev
You can absolutely jailbreak them and install whatever
cebert
I don’t think Microsoft realizes that this is not a positive for their brand.
MrMember
It's a positive for a nameless middle manager somewhere who can show their boss a graph with a line moving to the right and up with a title like "AI Adoption Across Platforms" and hit their bonus target.
DeepYogurt
This is 100% the why.
Uehreka
Whenever I see this much vehement agreement about something on HN, it sets off serious groupthink alarm bells.
Idk what the answer is, but it is not 100% this. It’s too simple and satisfying of an answer to be true.
rolph
if you work in a restauraunt, and decide salt is cheaper than sugar, and fill the bowls like that, someone will find out, like your manager.
telling your boss we are selling sugar, when its actually salt, is a good recipe for footgunning.
weikju
No, the boss is asking for more salt. Employees are then replacing sugar with salt and getting bonuses, no matter what the customer reactions are.
readthenotes1
Accountability and responsibility are not so clear and large, insanely profitable, behemoths like Microsoft.
hiddencost
You've clearly never worked at a large tech company
rolph
its none too good for LG either;
also: i think this sort of behaviour is exactly how you chill updates of any sort. it may take a while but when it is publicly salient that updates are sophies choice, and large pie slices of devices stay stock and unconnected, that will dry up that watering hole.
paranoia regarding un-updated devices will give way to paranoia regarding updates being used to screw you into something you would never consent to.
happymellon
I've had this with Android updates.
When you remove my ability to see if a Bluetooth device is connected with a security update, why would I willingly install any more of your updates?
klipklop
Next step is having cell modems in the TVs so you can’t stop updates and invading your privacy.
bobbybarnaclebb
They don’t care. The customer service era is over.
nerdponx
It doesn't matter if consumers don't like it if everyone does it. The only choice remaining then is to put up with it or not have a TV at all.
drnick1
You can buy a "smart TV" and keep it offline. Use it as a monitor for a PC running Linux, from which you stream from your browser or dedicated apps like VacuumTube (Youtube Leanback).
binary132
“Not have a TV at all” is a perfectly reasonable choice many people are making now.
hyperadvanced
You can get a 10 or 20 or 30 year old TV. They still work.
null
senectus1
they wont take much of a hit on the brand because of this, so they'll make up for that in marketing elsewhere.
this will however give them huge amounts of information... its a loss leader for them.
t_sea
My TV only gets internet access when there is a firmware update I care about
stephen_g
Makes me more and more glad that I never let my TV on any network and only use it as a display for Apple TV, the Blu-Ray player, and playing media from USB drives...
goku12
> Makes me more and more glad that I never let my TV on any network..
Sigh! These manufacturers have repeated this so many times that it is probably in their corporate subversion manual now. This is no consolation at all. They first introduce 'optional' features like this. Then they tighten the screw such that you get degraded performance if you don't use that feature. Finally they make it unavoidable. How are we missing it every time?
Haven't we seen how this evolved in the case of windows login using their 365 account? Haven't we seen how Android smartphone unlocking and custom ROM flashing got gradually more difficult over the years until we can't do that anymore?
If you rely on compromises or shortcuts out of this problem, you'll eventually find yourself without any. We need to nip this trend in the bud. Punish them with a tanked market.
tuetuopay
Same happy boat here. Mine has never seen the light of network access. I just don’t trust these things at all.
Macha
I left a relative house sitting, specifically told them to use the Xbox if they need Netflix etc, and of course they connected the TV to the wifi and just hit accept on everything. Luckily it was still new enough that LG hadn’t put out a patch to cram it full of ads yet.
After that I blocked the MAC address at my router.
null
hapticmonkey
My LG TV has been offline for the past 2 years (since I got it). I'm so much happier using the Apple TV.
I know people want "dumb" displays, but the reality is that these OLED panels offer industry-leading image quality and benefit from economies of scale, where most users want some form of built-in OS. A signage board cannot compete on price or quality. As long as TV manufacturers let me run it offline without issue, I'm fine with that.
Also fwiw, you can use apps like Infuse on the Apple TV for playing your own media files over the network. No Need for USB drives, just connect direct to the shared folder.
drnick1
> I'm so much happier using the Apple TV.
Then it is Apple that is harvesting your data. They may or may not display ads (I don't have an AppleTV to check), but they are certainly logging your interactions and possibly selling that data with third parties. That is on top of all the data Apple already has on people using iPhones, and the reason why I will never use anything other than a free/libre ROM like Graphene or Lineage.
hapticmonkey
> Then it is Apple that is harvesting your data.
They quite literally have settings to disable that. There are no ads in the operating system.
https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/tv/atvb66239fa1/tvos
I'm sure some conspiratorial thinking would lead people to the conclusion that Apple are secretly tracking and selling data. There is no evidence to suggest this is happening.
It's probably the next best thing to setting up your own linux home theater PC. But that comes with trade-offs with UX and DRM blocking 4K streaming apps and lack of Dolby Vision playback.
malfist
Its terrible Apple is spying on you. But the alternative is to have someone spying on you and forcing ads on you. Sophie's choice.
AnonHP
> but the reality is that these OLED panels offer industry-leading image quality
Except in scenes with fire (like a campfire) or where some spots may have high brightness compared to the surroundings. The LG OLED TVs I’ve seen all go blank in such scenes. The TVs I’ve seen that have LCD panels don’t have this issue. It seems like the only way to disable it (after turning off power saving and a few other things) is to buy and use a service remote to turn off ASBL. From my online reading, it seems like doing this may void the warranty and probably have negative effects on the life of the panel.
brokenmachine
I have an LG OLED and have never seen it go blank on any scene.
It just looks great all the time. Especially on scenes like you describe with a dark scene with bright highlights. Campfire scenes look great, space scenes look great. That's what OLED is best at.
If you're talking about ABL, I've only noticed the dimming on ads or powerpoint lectures that have fully white backgrounds, and I've been thankful for it at those times because I find all-white backgrounds too bright to watch anyway.
toomuchtodo
Apple TV is the best device for using Plex with a TV fwiw.
bakugo
> As long as TV manufacturers let me run it offline without issue, I'm fine with that.
I suspect that this won't be the case for much longer. Once you've stuffed the TV with all the ads and data harvesting you can, the logical next step is to ensure it doesn't work at all unless those ads are being watched and that data is being harvested.
bdangubic
I have used a projector my entire life, I have no idea why this isn’t a “thing” (especially with HN crowd-like communities)…
dangus
I will point out, there are sometimes some really legitimate firmware updates that actually enhance or correct shortcomings on the TVs, especially for cinephiles on high-end units and for recently-released models that have firmware that needs work.
You can find people who cover the content of these updates, such as Vincent from HDTVtest.
What I tend to do is leave my WiFi off and then occasionally turn it on and connect for firmware updates, then disable it afterward.
I've also found that on my LG OLED that a lot of the crapware doesn't even have an option to function if you just never accept the terms and conditions or un-accept them. The UI doesn't make it perfectly obvious that you can do this but you absolutely can.
This stuff is very much anti-consumer, but can generally be mitigated by vigilant settings-chasing and a willingness to ignore the TV interface and use a dedicated streaming box with essentially no ads like an Apple TV.
drnick1
Put your "smart" TV behind a Linux HTPC or a free/libre Android ROM and never, ever allow it to communicate over the Internet.
sangeeth96
For similar reasons many years back when I broke the bank for a G2, I decided to disconnect it forever. Besides the always-on spyware, every update broke something, which is incredibly frustrating considering the amount I spent. For instance, I got a GX soundbar for free with the TV which worked fine for 1–2 months until some update borked it and made it glitch out randomly. To date, none of their updates seem to have fixed it. I now only connect it back to the web — if needed — once a year or so but even this needs plenty of careful research across the web to see if the update package breaks something else I take for granted.
Hooking up an Apple TV 4K to this thing was the best decision I ever made and the sheer performance of this thing puts every TV vendor to shame. I would recommend everyone to do the same if they're already in the Apple ecosystem.
boringg
I agree ive hooked up apple tv to override the crappy subsidized smart tv built ins that spy on you. That works until apple changes leadership and new leadership starts significantly mining data and caring less about privacy. It will happen at some point, not on Cooks term but someone else im sure of it.
kankerlijer
Is it possible to use an LG without ever connecting it to the internet in the first place?
netsharc
Maybe related: I bought an LG TV in 2014 or so, I was interested in what its calls home communicated, so I MItM'ed it to capture the http (no s!) traffic. I never did bother to analyze the requests and responses..
But I got a newer LG model 2 years ago, I was still redirecting requests to LG's servers to a local web server (using DNS), but I guess due to https, the certificate checks failed and the attempts to call home failed. This meant that I never got asked to agree to the T&As.
But of course many apps don't work..
brokenmachine
I've done that with both LG OLEDs that I've had.
jzacharia
I'd pay triple for an LG "dumb" TV. This is outrageous.
blrbtrp19
Old Microsoft learned from the Clippy debacle, and more recently from the Windows 8.1 modern UI debacle. I'm not sure new Microsoft will learn this time...
wantlotsofcurry
I've had an LG tv for a couple years. I was previously able to use LG's THINQ app on my phone like a remote to operate the tv. A couple days ago I went in the app to use the remote and the feature had been totally locked behind the "access local networks & devices" permission... This permission was never needed in the past 3 years yet now it's necessary for the same functionality.
So, I disconnected the TV from the internet, uninstalled the app, and bought an Apple TV 3rd gen. LG TV quality is great but their software is unbearable.
roblabla
Wouldn't it make sense for a remote control to need to access local network & devices? Like, without this permission, the only way the controller would work is through a cloud service, so I would personally be pretty happy to discover the app requests this permission, as it would likely mean the app will keep working when LG inevitably shuts down their cloud server...
malfist
You're giving a lot of charity to LG. They're probably trying to fingerprint people with the extra permissions
eklavya
I am surprised it wasn't needed till now. This needs a lan connection and definitely will need access to local networks.
I count on EU to force OEMs to allow end users to root and install whatever OS they want.
It would be a good day.