You can get around it by disconnecting the Internet during setup
Thought I recognized that as the plot to a movie

Someone Used ChatGPT to Finish the Game of Thrones Book Series - IGN
One developer asked ChatGPT to finish George R.R. Martin's long-stalled book series, A Song of Ice and Fire, upon which the Game of Thrones TV show is based. And the AI did...well, not too bad. But don't expect it to replace Martin anytime soon, either.
IGNSure, but it still does cec. Specifically if you cast to it the TV turns on. I’ve only ever used my Google home to turn off the TV via “hey Google turn off the TV” but the functionality is there, there’s just no remote control to make it self sufficient
The old Chromecast does hdmi-cec for controlling the TV as well
Isn’t Miracast an adhoc wifi network as opposed to simply connecting to an established WiFi network?
No, but it is your fault for not proofreading… Or just using copy paste of the actual home page
Yes absolutely. They call it needling though