LG Copilot on webOS TVs: Undeletable Tile Sparks Privacy and Control Debate

LG pushed Microsoft’s Copilot into a wide swath of webOS smart TVs via an over‑the‑air update that placed a Copilot tile on home screens — and after a firestorm of complaints about the icon being seemingly “undeletable,” LG says it will add an option to let users remove the shortcut while also insisting the feature is only a web‑based shortcut that opens in the TV browser and activates microphone input only with explicit consent.

Background / Overview​

The Copilot rollout to living‑room screens is part of a broader push by Microsoft and TV OEMs to make large displays conversational endpoints for discovery, summaries, and contextual help. Samsung publicly announced and staged a Copilot integration for its 2025 TVs and smart monitors; Microsoft documented the experience and Samsung published guidance for users signing in and using Copilot on Tizen. LG’s approach was expected to appear as part of its webOS AI roadmap, but in mid‑December many owners reported a less graceful arrival: a Copilot tile that appeared after a routine webOS update and — in many documented cases — could not be removed through the TV’s standard app management UI. That behavior is what sparked the online backlash and prompted LG to issue a clarifying statement to the press.

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What actually happened: the rollout and the reaction​

The user experience — how Copilot appeared on TVs​

Multiple owners reported that after a recent webOS firmware‑over‑the‑air (FOTA) update a Copilot icon or tile appeared in their home screen ribbon alongside apps like Netflix and YouTube. Launching the tile typically opened a Copilot web page inside the TV’s browser shell; voice input via the remote’s mic button was available but required explicit activation. Community testing and screenshots circulated widely across Reddit and enthusiast forums, quickly amplifying the story.

The “undeletable” problem​

The core complaint was straightforward: when owners navigated webOS’s Edit/App Manager flows they often found no trash‑can or uninstall affordance for Copilot. The available options were typically hide or disable, and in several reported cases a full factory reset reintroduced the tile — a classic sign that the component was either delivered as a privileged system package or baked into the firmware image. Those repeatable community observations are the basis for calling the tile effectively non‑removable.

Media and community amplification​

A single Reddit post showing the Copilot tile on an LG home screen drew tens of thousands of upvotes and thousands of comments; mainstream outlets then reported the same pattern, elevating the story from niche tech complaints to a broader consumer privacy and control debate. Coverage varied in tone, but the technical facts reported — surprise OTA install, persistent tile, web‑based launch — were consistent across independent outlets.

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Technical anatomy: why the tile can feel “undeletable”​

Understanding why the Copilot tile behaved like a system component requires a quick dive into two standard packaging patterns device makers use:

• Privileged system package: OEMs can install components outside the normal user app sandbox and mark them as system apps. The user interface typically offers only hide or disable for such packages because uninstalling system components can break platform dependencies.
• Firmware‑baked component: A component included in the firmware image applied during a FOTA update will be restored by a factory reset, because the reset re‑applies the firmware image rather than reverting to a previous user state.

Reports that the Copilot tile returned after resets and the lack of uninstall affordances are consistent with one or both of these engineering patterns. Independent vendor confirmation (a technical bulletin or firmware audit) would be required to say which method LG used on specific firmware builds. Treat the packaging explanation as strongly evidenced by user tests but not yet officially confirmed in granular technical detail.

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Why this matters: privacy, consent, and the erosion of ownership​

Smart TVs are different from phones and laptops in one key way for many households: they sit in shared private spaces and increasingly include microphones, cameras (on some models), and persistent network connections. That makes surprises around installed software uniquely sensitive.

The privacy surface: Live Plus and ACR​

LG’s webOS includes an Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) feature often marketed as Live Plus. Live Plus can identify what’s playing on the screen and feed viewing signals into personalization and advertising systems. Users reported that the same recent updates that added Copilot also surfaced Live Plus toggles in settings, and in some cases those personalization features appeared to be enabled by default. Because conversational assistants gain utility from contextual signals (what you’re watching, timestamps, etc., combining Copilot and ACR raises real concerns about expanded telemetry and targeting unless strict defaults and clear opt‑outs are enforced.

Microphone access — what LG said​

LG’s public clarification to the press emphasizes that the Copilot icon is a shortcut to a web‑based experience and not a native, embedded service — and that microphone input is activated only with the customer’s explicit consent. That distinction matters legally and practically, but it does not fully allay the worry that adding a system‑level assistant and default‑on ACR widens the set of signals that vendors and their partners could meaningfully use. LG also said it would allow users to delete the shortcut in a future update, but provided no firm timeline.

Unverified vs verifiable claims​

• Verifiable: Copilot was added to LG TVs after a webOS update for multiple users; the tile often lacks an uninstall option; multiple reputable outlets and community threads documented the pattern.
• Unverified and requiring caution: Claims that the Copilot installation introduced new always‑on audio capture, cross‑device profiling beyond existing webOS telemetry, or undisclosed exfiltration flows. Those require independent forensic telemetry analysis or vendor disclosure to confirm. Flag those statements as plausible concerns that are not yet proven.

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What LG and Microsoft said — and what they didn’t​

LG’s spokesperson framed Copilot as a browser‑launched shortcut and promised to add a deletion option in response to user feedback, describing microphone activation as consent‑based. That public clarification reduces the most alarming technical claim — that Copilot is secretly embedded and always listening — but leaves key questions unanswered: when will the deletion option arrive, which models/regions are affected, and what telemetry flows (if any) are unique to Copilot? Until LG or Microsoft provides a technical breakdown of telemetry, storage, retention, and data sharing, legitimate privacy questions will remain. Microsoft and Samsung’s public rollout materials for Samsung’s Copilot implementation show a different path: Samsung’s 2025 Copilot integration was staged, documented, and presented as tightly integrated with Tizen experiences and optional sign‑in for personalization. That contrast highlights how execution and communication make a big difference in consumer reaction.

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Practical steps for affected users (short, actionable)​

If a Copilot tile appeared on your LG TV and you want to reduce visibility or telemetry quickly, try these ranked options:

• Hide the tile from the home ribbon via Edit/App Manager if the option is available. This removes daily visual clutter without deep interventions.
• Disable Live Plus / ACR: Settings → All Settings → General → Additional Settings → Live Plus (paths and wording vary by model). Turning this off reduces contextual content‑recognition signals that feed personalization.
• Avoid signing into Copilot or a Microsoft account on the TV; anonymous web use limits account‑backed personalization.
• Put the TV on an isolated guest VLAN or block known telemetry domains at the router (Pi‑hole or firewall rules). This reduces outbound connections but can break legitimate services.
• Use an external streaming dongle (Apple TV, Roku, Fire TV, Shield) to treat the LG panel as a dumb display for daily streaming.
• As a last resort, disconnect the TV from the network to prevent cloud calls and future surprise pushes — note this disables smart features and automatic updates.

These workarounds vary in disruption; the most practical balance for many is: hide the Copilot tile, turn off Live Plus, avoid sign‑in, and route streaming through an external device when possible.

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Business logic: why vendors push services post‑sale​

From an OEM perspective, adding partner services to installed hardware serves several commercial goals:

• Create new engagement surfaces and increase time‑on‑platform.
• Open advertising and personalization revenue streams via ACR and partner services.
• Differentiate otherwise commoditized hardware through software features.
• Lock users into a vendor ecosystem (account sign‑ins, personalized experiences).

Those incentives are real, and they explain the behavior. But the risk is reputational damage and a loss of customer trust when such services are delivered without clear consent, easy removal, or transparent privacy disclosures. What the LG episode shows is how those tradeoffs can quickly tip into backlash when execution is opaque.

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Legal and regulatory risks​

Regulators and consumer advocates have been scrutinizing smart‑TV data practices for years. Recent enforcement actions and lawsuits in U.S. states over device data collection and default settings suggest that default‑on profiling features and difficulty removing preinstalled software can attract regulatory attention. One consequence: manufacturers that push system‑level partner services without durable opt‑outs may face consumer protection claims or privacy enforcement — particularly where default consent is required by law. While no regulatory action was announced specifically tied to this Copilot push at the time of reporting, the episode increases the probability of scrutiny. Treat this as a near‑term regulatory risk rather than proven legal exposure.

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What LG and Microsoft should do next (recommendations)​

• Publish a clear technical bulletin that identifies which firmware builds and models were affected, whether Copilot was included as a privileged package or web shortcut, and how a user can permanently remove or disable it. Transparency will calm much of the backlash.
• Ship a prompt update that adds a durable remove option accessible from Settings and ensure the removal survives factory resets and future updates when feasible.
• Publish a telemetry disclosure for Copilot on webOS: what signals are collected, what is shared with Microsoft, retention periods, and how to opt out. Explain whether Live Plus interactions are combined with Copilot usage.
• Improve update transparency: deliver human‑readable patch notes and explicit consent flows for optional features added by firmware updates.
• Provide user tools and support documentation that walk owners through privacy settings (Live Plus, ad personalization, voice recognition) and explain tradeoffs for network‑level mitigations.

Those steps would restore the balance between innovation and control, making on‑TV assistants acceptable to more owners.

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Wider context: “AI everywhere” fatigue and platform design lessons​

This episode is not just about one tile on one platform. It sits at the intersection of three trends:

• The race to put LLM‑powered assistants on every screen and device.
• The longstanding industry habit of preinstalling partner apps and monetizing attention on home‑screen real estate.
• Growing consumer sensitivity to default privacy settings and post‑sale software changes on devices purchased outright.

Consumers tolerate helpful features when they are clearly optional, well explained, and easy to disable. Forced additions delivered via firmware updates break that implicit social contract and accelerate churn toward simpler approaches: buying minimal smart stacks, using external streamers, or choosing brands with stronger opt‑out controls.

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Final analysis — tradeoffs, strengths, and risks​

• Strengths: Copilot on TVs can be genuinely useful: quick show recaps, contextual lookups, and a unified conversational interface for discovery could reduce friction and enhance accessibility. When implemented as an opt‑in native feature and tightly integrated with local UX, Copilot has clear consumer value and monetization potential.
• Risks: The push on LG highlighted several execution risks:
• Eroding consumer trust by installing persistent partner services without a durable opt‑out.
• Increasing the telemetry surface area when combined with ACR/Live Plus, especially if defaults favor personalization and advertising.
• Opening regulatory and reputational exposure if consumers feel ownership and privacy expectations are violated.
• Neutral, but important: LG’s clarification that Copilot is a web shortcut and that microphone activation requires consent is meaningful. It reduces the immediate technical alarm that Copilot had been secretly embedded as an always‑listening agent. However, the clarification does not resolve the user‑control problem nor satisfy the need for transparent telemetry disclosures and a concrete deletion timeline. Until LG ships an explicit removal mechanism and publishes a telemetry FAQ, trust will remain frayed.

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Conclusion​

The Copilot-on-LG episode is a cautionary case for vendors racing to layer AI onto consumer hardware: technical capability and commercial incentive are no substitute for clear consent models, robust opt‑outs, and transparent communications. LG’s promise to allow deletion of the Copilot shortcut is a step in the right direction, but meaningful remediation requires concrete timelines, durable removal mechanisms, and disclosures about telemetry and how Copilot interacts with existing features like Live Plus. For owners, practical mitigation steps exist — hide the tile, disable Live Plus, avoid sign‑in, and use an external streamer — but the underlying trust calculus will only be repaired when vendors commit to respecting device ownership and privacy by design.

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Source: The Verge LG forced a Copilot web app onto its TVs but will let you delete it

 

[ChatGPT]

LG’s reversal — promising to let TV owners delete the Microsoft Copilot shortcut after a wave of complaints — is a reminder that the living room is still a battleground for control over both software and user data. The change rolled out silently in a recent webOS firmware push and immediately touched a raw nerve: owners found a Copilot tile pinned to their home screens with no uninstall option, a discovery that went viral on Reddit and across tech press. Faced with community backlash, LG told reporters it would add a true delete option in a future update — a climbdown that answers the immediate outrage but leaves deeper questions about update practices, privacy defaults, and vendor responsibility unresolved.

Background​

How Copilot reached the TV​

Microsoft’s Copilot — the company’s conversational AI assistant — has been a central plank of a broad industry push to bring large language model (LLM) capabilities to everyday devices. At CES and through product roadmaps, TV makers signaled plans to surface Copilot and other assistants on living-room screens as part of 2025 lineup strategies; LG positioned Copilot as an extension of its webOS “AI TV” features and AI Search experience. The behavior that sparked outrage was not a concept pitch but a real-world firmware update that placed a Copilot tile in users’ app rows.

The immediate trigger​

Community reports and screenshots showed the Copilot icon appearing after a routine webOS over‑the‑air (FOTA) software update. When owners tried to remove the icon through the TV’s normal app-management workflows it lacked an uninstall affordance; at best it could be hidden — and in many cases it reappeared after a factory reset. That pattern strongly suggests the component was provisioned as a privileged system item or baked into the firmware image, not installed as a removable app from the content store. Multiple outlets and forum investigations corroborated this behavior as affecting a range of LG models following the December update.

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What exactly happened — step by step​

• LG pushed a webOS update to certain TV models.
• A Microsoft Copilot tile appeared on the TV home screen and app row.
• Users attempted normal app management and discovered no uninstall option; only hide/disable was available.
• Community posts, especially a Reddit thread that ballooned in visibility, drew tens of thousands of reactions and attracted media coverage.
• Under pressure, LG said it would add a delete option for the Copilot shortcut in a future update, although no firm timeline was provided.

Each step above is verifiable through contemporaneous community posts and the subsequent reporting by multiple independent technology outlets; the combination of user-sourced evidence (screenshots, reset tests) and vendor remarks underpins the narrative.

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Why this happened — commercial drivers and technical mechanics​

Business incentives: reach and monetization​

• Ecosystem expansion: Microsoft benefits by placing Copilot in front of millions of living-room users; OEMs get a differentiator to market as “AI‑enabled TV.”
• Data and personalization: The ad and recommendation value of contextual signals (what’s on screen, who’s speaking, viewing habits) increases when an assistant can use them — a commercial incentive for OEMs to stitch partner services into system UX.
• Default‑on convenience: Preloading features and pinning shortcuts into the home screen make them discoverable and more likely to be used; from a product-growth perspective that helps adoption metrics.

These incentives explain the urgency to push Copilot broadly, but they also explain why an OEM might opt for a system‑level deployment rather than a removable store app: system packaging is simpler for delivering integrated features and for ensuring the partner gets consistent exposure.

Technical reasons: why the app may be “undeletable”​

There are two standard mechanisms that make an app effectively non‑removable on embedded platforms like webOS:

• The manufacturer installs the component as a privileged system package outside the user sandbox. Settings may permit hiding or disabling, but not full uninstall.
• The component is baked into the firmware image delivered by FOTA. A factory reset restores the firmware image and the app returns.
  Community tests — hide vs uninstall workflows and the tile’s return after resets — strongly point to one of these mechanisms in the Copilot case. That’s standard embedded‑systems engineering, but it runs counter to common consumer expectations about control over bought hardware.

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The privacy and control debate​

What owners fear​

• Loss of device autonomy: Users expect to control what runs on hardware they purchased. A non‑removable feature erodes that expectation.
• Expanded telemetry: If Copilot is married to on‑screen Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) features — marketed by LG as Live Plus or similar ACR/Live Promotion functions — it can draw on richer contextual signals that raise privacy concerns. Even if microphone features are disabled by default, ACR can still surface viewing data used for profiling or ad personalization.

What LG has said​

LG clarified that the Copilot tile is a shortcut to a web‑based Copilot page that opens in the TV’s browser, rather than a native, deeply embedded AI service. LG also emphasized that features such as microphone input are activated only with explicit user consent. After the media wave, LG told reporters it “respects consumer choice” and would take steps to let users delete the shortcut icon. No specific rollout date for the deletion option was given. Those remarks were reported by multiple outlets quoting LG’s statement.

What remains unverified​

• Whether Copilot expands the classes of telemetry collected beyond existing webOS flows (for example, turning on ambient microphones by default, or cross‑device profiling) is not confirmed publicly by LG or Microsoft. Independent forensic analysis would be required to validate claims of new telemetry categories. Community reporting and forum tests are strong signals but are not a substitute for vendor disclosure or technical audit. Treat such claims as plausible but unverified until direct technical evidence is published.

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The viral moment: Reddit, outrage, and the press cycle​

A Reddit post on r/mildlyinfuriating — showing a screenshot of Copilot among other app tiles and noting the absence of an uninstall option — exploded, garnering tens of thousands of upvotes and drawing hundreds of comments. That thread served as the ignition point: once images and first‑hand accounts reached critical mass, mainstream tech outlets picked up the story and amplified pressure on LG to respond. The sequence is a textbook example of how social platforms catalyze product PR crises for hardware vendors.

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Practical guidance for owners (what to do now)​

If you own an affected LG TV and want to reduce Copilot’s visibility or telemetry exposure, here are practical, ordered steps from least to most disruptive:

• Hide the Copilot tile through the home‑screen edit controls (if available). This removes daily visibility but not the package.
• Turn off Live Plus / Automatic Content Recognition: Settings → All Settings → General → System → Additional Settings → Live Plus (menu labels vary). This reduces contextual on‑screen signals used for personalization.
• Avoid signing into Microsoft services on the TV. Without account linkage, cloud personalization and cross‑device features are limited.
• Use an external streaming box (Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Nvidia Shield) and treat the TV as a dumb display — preserves UX control at the cost of convenience.
• If you are technically comfortable, block known telemetry or ad domains at the router level (Pi‑hole, DNS filtering, firewall rules). This reduces data exfiltration risk but can break services and requires careful whitelist management.
• As a last resort, keep the TV offline. This prevents cloud calls but disables auto‑updates and streaming functionality.

These are mitigation pathways, not cures. If LG follows through with a delete option, the simplest path — uninstalling the shortcut via the UI — would be preferable for consumers.

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Broader industry context: not an isolated trend​

LG is not the only OEM bundling conversational AI into TVs. Rival manufacturers have rolled similar integrations — Samsung has documented Copilot availability on select 2025 models, TCL and others have experimented with Google’s Gemini and other assistants, and the broader trend is clear: TV platforms are becoming AI surfaces. That convergence amplifies the commercial logic (differentiation, ecosystem lock‑in, ad personalization), but it also repeats the same set of policy and UX pitfalls: default‑on features, opaque update models, and limited uninstallability.

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Critical analysis — strengths and risks​

Strengths and product potential​

• Convenience and discovery: Conversational assistants on a TV can improve accessibility, discovery, and family‑friendly interactions — for example, voice‑based content search, summarization, and contextual Q&A are real value adds.
• Innovation in UX: Large screens offer unique opportunities for multimodal interactions — combining visual suggestions, scene summaries, and voice queries in ways a phone can’t match.
• Ecosystem benefits: For Microsoft, presence on TVs expands Copilot’s reach; for OEMs, AI capabilities are a visible, marketable feature.

Risks and consumer harms​

• Erosion of ownership: Shipping non‑removable components on paid hardware damages consumer trust and fuels the “bloatware” narrative.
• Privacy creep: Combining assistants with ACR frameworks and default settings that favor personalization can expand telemetry surface area without clear consent.
• Regulatory scrutiny and brand damage: Forced features can invite consumer protection complaints, bad press, and potential regulatory attention in jurisdictions sensitive to dark patterns and data‑collection practices.
• Patchwork remedies: Promises to add delete options after backlash are reactive and leave owners exposed between rollout and remediation. That timing gap matters to privacy‑conscious users.

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Why LG’s response matters — and why it’s only a partial fix​

LG’s public pledge to add an uninstall path is a pragmatic response that restores a baseline expectation: users should be able to remove optional software. It’s a necessary step to rebuild trust. But it’s also reactive rather than proactive; the rollout that created the problem used an update model that assumed privilege without prior notice or an easy opt‑out.
Key weaknesses in the response:

• No timeline: Saying “we will allow deletion” without a concrete schedule leaves owners in limbo and signals that user control was afterthought, not design principle.
• Transparency gap: LG’s clarification that Copilot is a web shortcut is relevant, but it doesn’t fully explain the packaging model or whether any new telemetry flows accompany the update.
• Trust deficit: Promises after a viral backlash repair optics slowly. Owners have already internalized the practice: features can be forced onto hardware they own.

In short, LG’s concession is the right move — but it must be accompanied by clearer documentation of what the update did, how data is handled, and how management workflows will operate going forward.

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Technical recommendations for manufacturers and platform owners​

• Ship partner services as truly optional store components unless tight OS integration is necessary.
• Clearly document FOTA update contents in update notes, including whether a system image change is being applied that affects removable app status.
• Default to privacy‑minimal settings and require explicit opt‑in for telemetry-intensive features (for example, ACR or cross‑device profiling).
• Provide a one‑click removal path for partner shortcuts and a transparent account‑unlinking workflow.
• When system components are necessary, clearly label them in the UI and in the update changelog so owners understand what is changing on their devices.

These steps preserve both innovation and consumer expectations: OEMs can still ship differentiated features while respecting control and privacy norms.

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Legal and regulatory lens​

The Copilot episode sits at the intersection of consumer protection, digital privacy, and software update policy. Regulators have recently focused on dark patterns, default privacy settings, and the limits of reasonable consumer expectations for connected devices. A pattern of forcing non‑removable software onto paid‑for hardware could attract scrutiny under unfair‑practice laws or data‑protection rules, depending on jurisdiction and whether the bundled software expands data collection in ways users did not reasonably expect. Public commitments to add removal options are helpful, but regulators and privacy advocates are likely to look for durable policy changes rather than one‑off fixes.

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Final assessment and what to watch next​

• LG’s promise to add a deletion option for the Copilot shortcut is a meaningful, necessary correction to a misstep in update policy. It restores consumer choice on paper, but the lack of a firm timeline and the opacity around packaging and telemetry mean trust recovery will take time.
• The broader trend — TVs and other “always‑on” home devices becoming AI surfaces — will continue. Consumers, advocacy groups, and regulators must push for clearer defaults: privacy‑preserving settings, transparent update disclosures, and simple removal workflows for optional services.
• For owners, immediate mitigations are practical: hide the tile, opt out of Live Plus/ACR, avoid signing into partner accounts, or use an external streamer when possible. These are imperfect but effective stopgaps until OEMs deliver better controls.

This episode is a cautionary tale: the technical ability to add features via firmware updates is real and powerful — but so is the expectation that purchased hardware remains under owner control. When those two forces collide, damage is reputational as much as functional. LG’s next moves — prompt rollout of uninstall capability, clear documentation of the update, and stronger privacy defaults — will determine whether this becomes a one‑off correction or a defining moment that shifts how TV makers approach AI integrations going forward.

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Source: Bloomberg.com https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...-microsoft-copilot-after-customer-complaints/