Roku Hidden Good News in an AI Update Nobody Needed
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It’s 2025, and every technology needs some integration with AI—apparently, even Roku. On Wednesday, Roku announced a slew of new features and changes coming to many of its streaming devices, but headlines focused on one announcement in particular: a new AI-powered assistant. The assistant, which will be part of the existing Roku Voice feature, will let you ask your streaming device questions about shows and movies, including the characters and actors in them. You can ask the assistant whether a particular movie is suitable for kids or recommend other movies starring the actor you’re watching.
The company states that Roku Voice uses both “proprietary and commercial generative AI and LLM technologies.” This seems to indicate that some data processing is handled by Roku’s own AI technology, while the rest is outsourced to at least one other company. Therefore, it should be assumed that your AI requests are not confidential and may pass through both Roku and third-party servers. When CNET asked for clarification on user privacy, a company representative simply replied, “We follow Roku’s published privacy policy and viewing settings.” However, this policy has not yet been updated to reflect the AI technology.
The Roku assistant might be a useful tool, but even I don’t own a Roku device, and that’s not something I’m interested in. If I want to know whether some content is appropriate for kids, I wouldn’t trust it to an AI summary— especially given how often AI models just make things up . Personally, I’d watch the content myself first—or at least do my own research. After all, there’s the internet. Finding an actor’s IMDB page to see other movies they’ve starred in, complete with user reviews, synopses, and—you never know—even parental recommendations, is about as quick as asking the same questions to an AI assistant.
Roku has other interesting updates.
The fact is, the AI assistant is the least exciting update the company plans to offer customers in the future. While browsing the news, what caught my attention most was the expansion of Bluetooth headphone support to more devices. Streaming Stick and Streaming Stick Plus users can now connect their wireless headphones directly to Roku devices, rather than through the app . Previously, this was only available for larger Roku devices, such as Roku TVs. Whether you live with others and want to watch your content without disturbing them, or prefer to watch shows and movies through headphones rather than through your TV speakers, the ability to connect to Bluetooth headphones for streaming is a huge plus.
More changes are coming. When watching trailers on your Roku device, you’ll see a new “What to Watch” option, which will take you to various apps and services featuring TV shows or movies. A search bar will also appear in the “What to Watch” and “Live Zone” sections, and will be coming to the “Live Channel Guide” soon. The mobile app will also be updated. Swiping up will now reveal features like “Find Remote,” subtitles, a sleep timer, and quizzes. You can also rate content by liking or disliking it.
Finally, Roku adds support for real-time sports scores, which appear during the headlines of each game. You can also set reminders for the start of specific sports matches.