Samsung TV will remove Google Assistant from existing televisions, the company posted on its support page.
The assistant is leaving Samsung TVs due to a Google policy change. It will no longer be available starting March 1. Instead, the manufacturer suggests controlling your TV through SmartThings, which turns your phone into a remote, Bixby, or Amazon Alexa as alternatives to Google Assistant.
While Samsung TV said a Google policy change prompted the removal, Google Assistant still works with other brands. LG launched Google Assistant on its webOS models in 2018, and it doesn’t appear to be leaving. In January, LG and Google strengthened their partnership to include Chromecast support on LG TVs.
Google Assistant joined Samsung TVs in 2018. The support page states all 2020 8K and 4K QLED, Crystal UHD, and Lifestyle TVs, and all 2021 and 2022 smart TV models will lose access in March.
The feature launched on Samsung TVs in 2020. It was available on the next several models, as was Amazon Alexa. Google Assistant vanished quietly from all 2023 models but only recently popped up as being discontinued on Samsung’s support page.
Samsung TV didn’t elaborate on the Google policy changes that prompted this decision and did not respond to a request for comment.
Google is also launching new changes in March. The company plans to integrate the Assistant with Bard, its large language model chatbot, to rival ChatGPT. This will let users use the web version of the bot by saying, “Hey, Google.” The company plans to upgrade its virtual assistant with better generative and reasoning artificial intelligence support. Bard will also be compatible with other Google services, such as Gmail and Google Docs.
Assistant with Bard was announced at the Made by Google event last October. A beta testing version is available to limited users and will debut on Android devices in the upcoming months.