After a week of user backlash over an unremovable Microsoft Copilot shortcut appearing on newer TVs, LG is reversing course. The TV maker says it will allow users to delete the AI assistant icon following reports highlighting the forced integration. The move marks a rare retreat on AI bundling as consumer frustration over unwanted AI tools grows.
LG just hit the brakes on one of the year's more tone-deaf tech decisions. After users revolted over an unremovable Microsoft Copilot icon that appeared on their TVs, the company announced it would allow people to delete the AI shortcut. LG spokesperson Chris De Maria told The Verge, "We respect consumer choice and will take steps to allow users to delete the shortcut icon if they wish."
The backlash came fast. Last week, a user on r/mildlyinfuriating posted a screenshot showing the Copilot icon locked in place among their TV apps with no option to remove it. "My LG TV's new software update installed Microsoft Copilot, which cannot be deleted," they wrote. The post blew up, hitting over 36,000 upvotes as frustrated TV owners piled on complaints about AI being shoved into consumer devices without consent.
Here's the thing: the Copilot icon showed up through a webOS update, bundled as a "convenience feature" that LG and Samsung had announced months earlier. Back in January, both TV makers had revealed plans to bring Microsoft's AI assistant to their TVs as part of the broader push to put Copilot everywhere - phones, PCs, browsers, smart displays. It seemed inevitable. But execution matters, and LG's forced, immovable implementation hit different.
De Maria clarified that Copilot is actually just a shortcut to a web app running in the TV's browser, not a deeply embedded service. "It's not an application-based service embedded in the TV," he explained. That distinction might matter technically, but it didn't change how it felt to users who just wanted their TV home screen back the way it was. He also noted that microphone features require explicit user consent, which is something, at least.
