People are using AI to make their smart TVs dumb again

Smart TVs use automatic content recognition, which fingerprints screenshots or audio to identify what you watch, and many ship with ad-filled launchers. Developers are now sharing tools such as dumbtv and cleanyourtv that use AI coding agents to replace those launchers, block tracking and speed up menus over Wi-Fi, without rooting the TV. The projects are still works in progress.

Summary written with AI by HowTechMoves, based on reporting by TechCrunch.