LG backtracks, will soon let users delete Copilot from its smart TVs

LG has recently faced backlash after its latest webOS update automatically installed Microsoft Copilot on its smart TVs, frustrating many users who suddenly found an app they didn’t ask for and couldn’t delete.

Now, LG has clarified that the Copilot icon isn’t an app but a “shortcut” to a version of Copilot that runs in the TV’s web browser — not “an application-based service embedded in the TV” (via The Verge).

One of the biggest complaints LG TV owners had was that the Copilot icon couldn’t be deleted, only hidden, and now LG says it will take steps to fix this and allow users to delete it. An LG spokesperson told The Verge that it “respects consumer choice and will take steps to allow users to delete the shortcut icon if they wish.”

However, LG will need to update webOS to allow users to delete the Copilot shortcut, and no timeline has been provided for when users will actually be able to do that.

LG adding Copilot to its TVs wasn’t a total surprise

It announced it would do this at CES 2025, but it didn’t happen until recently

LG first announced it would add Copilot to its TVs at CES 2025 earlier this year, but it wasn’t until mid-December that the app started appearing on TVs. I have an LG TV myself, and Copilot only showed up after my TV automatically updated over the weekend.

The issue really blew up thanks to a Reddit post titled “My LG TV’s new software update installed Microsoft Copilot, which cannot be deleted,” which quickly went viral. It racked up over 35,000 upvotes and thousands of comments from users venting their frustrations with AI, many of whom said they’ve disconnected their smart TVs from the internet entirely to avoid problems like this.

On the bright side for LG TV owners, the company is actually listening and will soon let users delete the Copilot icon. They’ll just have to wait for LG to add that functionality in a future webOS update — hopefully sooner rather than later. That said, it’s hard not to think about how easily this whole situation could have been avoided if LG had just allowed users to delete it from the get-go.