Owners of some LG Electronics TVs have reported that they’re seeing a notification about the impending removal of Google Assistant.
The company appears to be planning to completely remove the helpful voice search feature from all of its smart TVs, following in the footsteps of Samsung Electronics, which did so last year, and Panasonic, in March.
Most LG smart TVs, dating back to around 2018, have been able to connect with Google Assistant, so long as they’re hooked up to the internet. The easy-to-access service can be called upon simply by tapping the microphone button on LG’s Magic Remote, allowing users to search for TV shows, check the weather, pause or play, and even switch off the TV using voice commands.
For many TV owners it’s a very helpful tool. So they might be sad to see that it’s being removed, despite LG’s assurances that voice control functionality will still be available after.
The first reports were revealed by 9to5Google, which posted the notification statement users of LG’s CX OLED models and others are seeing:
So Google Assistant won’t be available after this month, though the button will continue to enable voice controls. LG doesn’t say how, but it clearly won’t be using Google’s voice service anymore.
Anyone who buys a 2025 LG TV such as the G5 OLED will likely be using Microsoft’s AI-powered Copilot instead, as the company revealed at CES 2025 this service will be added to its newest TVs. But it didn’t say anything about its older TVs getting Copilot. Instead, those older TVs may be limited to using LG’s own ThinQ voice assistant, but unfortunately this service is a lot more basic and may not be able to handle every kind of search request.
While LG hasn’t said why it’s removing Google Assistant, both Samsung and Panasonic stated that their decision has something to do with “a change in Google’s policy” regarding the service. Though, neither specified exactly what change they are referring to.
Most likely, it has something to do with the fact that Google plans to ditch Google Assistant anyway and replace it with its Gemini generative AI service. The company said earlier this year that this transition will begin soon, starting with smartphone devices and later extending to other kinds of devices and gadgets.
What’s not clear is if the TV makers are simply ditching Google Assistant to prepare for an eventual shift to Gemini, or more likely, unwilling to switch to Gemini as a replacement.
