Do stores have a choice in this? Or do the refrigerators need an internet connection because of DRM? Or are the refrigerators connecting via an embedded cellular modules like in cars?

Neither training models nor reverse engineering are necessarily IP theft. https://www.eff.org/issues/coders/reverse-engineering-faq

I had to look it up. I have never heard the operating system called Google TV, and I stopped using my Android TV once Google started ruining the UI with what I guess is called Google TV in some branding. I tried for a while with a different launcher, but it never really worked well, and it was an aging unit that had other problems unrelated to ads taking over my TV.

Google TV? Google TV doesn’t need debloating. It was killed off in 2014, back when Google still made good things. Current devices run Android TV.