United StatesOne user says Claude Code stripped 25 Xiaomi packages from a TV.
Owners are reviving bricked and ad-laden devices, and cloning software, with a prompt.
AI decompiles proprietary code, replicates its features and installs open-source replacements, work once left to hobbyist repair communities.
“It’s becoming so easy to recreate the functionality that you want,” said Mike Nolan, who studies the politics of open-source software.
Nolan doubts companies will adopt the clones, given the work of maintaining them.
How each outlet framed it
- 404 Media
- frames AI device hacks as both user liberation and plagiarism, citing bricked Lululemon mirrors and ad-free baby monitors
- 404 Media