There's One Less AI Assistant Invading Your TV After Microsoft's Change

It feels like AI has been integrated into every facet of modern technology. Apple users now have access to an AI-powered Siri, thanks to iOS 27, that will change how they use iPhones, iPads, and Macs, while popular web browsers like Google Chrome have made AI-focused features a premier aspect of its services. Even refrigerators have AI capabilities now, and some of the results have been catastrophic. While tech companies' undying AI obsession has rendered its takeover inevitable, not everyone wants AI on their devices. Thus, it may please some smart TV owners to know that AI may be leaving their systems.

If you own an LG or Samsung smart TV equipped with Microsoft Copilot, your device will no longer support the AI software by the end of 2026, per an October 2026 announcement. The change comes not even two years after Microsoft announced it would bring Copilot AI functionality to users' systems at the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show. A notice appeared on LG TV screens, per Windows Central,  that reads: "We would like to inform you that Microsoft has recently decided to end support for Copilot functionality on all TVs, including the Copilot-enabled feature available on our LG TVs. As a result, the Copilot-enabled feature on your TV is no longer available and may stop functioning shortly."

Microsoft's decision comes amid a wave of user gripes regarding Copilot's perceived intrusive tendencies. Although it was designed to increase productivity, some users, like those in an October 2025 Microsoft Community post, observed it to be an invasive nuisance. It didn't help that the software was also forcibly installed onto users' devices, thus prompting even more backlash.

Microsoft Copilot isn't the only artificial intelligence software invading users' smart TVs in this day and age. Other intelligent assistants like Siri AI, Alexa+, and Gemini have been or will be infused into modern iterations of their parent companies' respective hardware: the Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Google TV. Similar to Copilot, options like Siri AI have also raised major red flags for their significant access to users' personal information. Before it announced Copilot would be removed completely, Microsoft initially gave TV users the option to delete the Copilot app from their devices if the mood struck. 

This option gave users without the need for or desire to use AI on their smart TV the chance to return to their usual media-watching habits. Some have argued it wouldn't have been problematic had they not been forced to use it. "It's the forced adoption with no proof of usefulness or need that kills me," one Reddit user wrote. "The hype is all so artificial and without actual material return on investment makes it feel doomed to fail." Perhaps, if Microsoft ever reintroduces Copilot to smart TVs, it will play a safer card and make it optional from the beginning.