A security researcher says a 2025 Samsung smart TV runs on-device AI that gathers audio, screenshots and detailed viewing data to target ads. The claims come from a researcher known as log4j, who says they rooted the TV after getting ads that felt a little too well targeted.
The findings were first shared on X on October 21 and reported by Tom’s Hardware on October 25. They have not been independently verified, and Samsung has not commented publicly.
What the researcher found
Samsung encrypts its TV firmware with AES, so log4j could not simply unpack it. They say they opened the TV, used hardware debug access (UART and JTAG), and used zero-day flaws to get a root shell on Tizen, Samsung’s TV operating system.
Inside, log4j says they found code that collects:
- Viewing behavior: which videos you watch, which ads you skip, and how far you get through each video
- Audio: recorded and sorted into categories
- Screenshots of what is on screen, analyzed with on-device computer vision
- An advertising ID that links your activity across devices
The researcher also points to a region-specific AI model, a convolutional neural network, that appears to process this data on the TV. Perhaps the most surprising claim is about TVs without a built-in microphone. The code reportedly looks for a microphone on connected gear, such as a soundbar or a paired Bluetooth device.
log4j suggests this constant processing may be one reason smart TVs feel sluggish. That is their theory, not a proven cause.
One early test
Hugging Face engineer ngxson ran a quick check on their own Samsung TV. They saw the microphone switch on for about five seconds, then saw no more recording over several hours. Their TV was already rooted with some settings turned off, so a stock TV could behave differently.
Banned by OpenAI along the way
There is a twist. log4j used OpenAI’s tools to help with the analysis and says OpenAI then banned the account for “cyber abuse.”
The researcher disputes the ban. They say the tools were used only to reverse engineer their own TV locally, not to attack anything or hunt for live vulnerabilities. They suspect an automated classifier flagged the work by mistake. OpenAI has not explained the decision publicly.
Why this matters
Smart TV tracking is not new. Samsung, LG, and most other brands use Automatic Content Recognition (ACR), which identifies what is on screen and feeds ad targeting. Samsung calls its version Viewing Information Services.
What stands out here is the scale the researcher describes: audio, screenshots and an AI model working together on the TV itself. It also follows earlier scrutiny. Samsung recently settled with the Texas Attorney General, agreeing to stop collecting ACR data from Texans without clear consent, and it faces a separate class action in New York. LG has said its ACR uses audio fingerprinting rather than screenshots and is off by default.
How to turn off tracking on your Samsung TV
You cannot block everything the researcher describes from the settings menu, but you can switch off Samsung’s main tracking and ad features:
- Press the Home button on your remote and open Settings.
- Go to Support > Terms & Privacy > Privacy Choices. On some models it sits under All Settings > General & Privacy.
- Turn off Viewing Information Services. This is Samsung’s ACR feature.
- Turn off Interest-Based Advertisement. You will still see ads, just not ones based on your viewing.
- Turn off Voice Recognition Services if you do not use voice control. This disables voice commands too.
If you accepted the default prompts when setting up your TV, check these settings even on newer models. For extra peace of mind, you can also unpair Bluetooth devices you do not use, or keep the TV offline and stream from a separate device.
What happens next
log4j says a detailed technical write-up is coming, which should let other researchers test the claims. Until then, treat the findings as unverified. Technwz has contacted Samsung for comment and will update this story with any response.
Related on Technwz: OpenAI Cuts Frontier AI Training Off From the Live Internet
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