Google Opens Connected Apps Beta as Microsoft Ends Smart TV Copilot

Consumer agent ecosystems and synthetic media forensics saw three significant shifts on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026: Google opened a U.S. developer beta for its Connected Apps Platform across Gemini and Google Search, Microsoft notified users that it is discontinuing Copilot on LG and Samsung smart TVs during 2026, and university researchers attributed AI-manipulated midterm election videos in Ohio and Texas to the Russian influence network Storm-1516.

Google Launches MCP-Powered Connected Apps Platform for Gemini and Search

Google announced the U.S. developer beta preview of its Connected Apps Platform, enabling third-party developers to integrate applications directly into Gemini and Google Search, according to a Wednesday report by Sarah Perez for TechCrunch.

Under the architecture, companies can link their services either by connecting a cloud-hosted Model Context Protocol (MCP) server or by building an Android MCP integration through Google's AppFunctions APIs, allowing local device actions without routing requests through the cloud. Developers manage deployments and monitor traffic volume, latency, and error rates through the new Google Connected Console.

More than 50 Connected Apps currently live inside Gemini—including Adobe, Experian, Localiza, and Peloton—are scheduled to roll out to Google Search over the coming weeks, joining existing Search integrations from Instacart, Canva, YouTube Music, and Yahoo Fantasy Football, while meditation app Calm is joining the platform as a new partner.

Microsoft Retires Copilot Assistant on LG and Samsung Smart TVs

Nearly 2 years after LG and Samsung debuted built-in Microsoft Copilot smart television integrations at CES 2025, Microsoft is ending support for Copilot functionality across all smart TVs during 2026, according to a report by Andrew Liszewski for The Verge.

The phase-out surfaced via an on-screen system notice spotted by Windows Central reporter Zac Bowden on his webOS-powered LG television. The withdrawal from living-room TV hardware comes as Microsoft reorganizes its consumer and commercial AI roadmap to focus Copilot around a unified business and productivity "super app."

Forensic Researchers Attribute Synthetic Midterm Videos to Storm-1516

Also on Wednesday, Clemson University professor Darren Linvill and Dartmouth College digital forensics professor Hany Farid attributed a wave of AI-manipulated videos targeting U.S. Senate candidates to the Russian disinformation network Storm-1516, according to an Associated Press report carried by KCBS Radio / Audacy.

Storm-1516—which previously circulated fabricated videos targeting Kamala Harris and Tim Walz during the 2024 presidential campaign—used generative AI voice and video synthesis alongside real individuals' stolen photographs and names, including former intern Haya Akbik, to fabricate allegations against Democratic Senate candidates Sherrod Brown in Ohio (who is running against Republican Sen. Jon Husted) and James Talarico in Texas (who is running against Republican Ken Paxton). Talarico campaign spokesperson JT Ennis condemned the fabricated clips, and social platform X removed the initial posts and suspended the accounts that uploaded them for violating platform manipulation policies.