AI Resurrects Decade-Old Samsung Washer After Manufacturer Kills Support

A Reddit user known as u/McArhony spent two hours with Anthropic‘s Claude AI last October and walked away with a fully functional smart washer that Samsung had abandoned years earlier. The machine, a 2014 Crystal Blue model with a touchscreen and automatic detergent dosing, had lost its SmartThings integration when the manufacturer ended support. Instead of replacing it, McArhony asked an AI to reverse-engineer the connection.

The process restored remote start, cycle monitoring, and even the automated handshake with its matching dryer. McArhony called the washer a “Rolls Royce for the geeks at the time.” Now it responds to commands from the same app Samsung tried to make obsolete.

McArhony didn’t stop there. The GitHub repository smartthings-samsung-drc-washer publishes an Edge Driver that lets other owners of 2013-2015 models using the 2878 protocol reclaim the same features. Status reads, cycle control, and configuration options all work again inside the Samsung ecosystem.

This isn’t an isolated case. Owners of Samsung and LG smart TVs are using Claude and ChatGPT to strip out bloatware, ads, and tracking software. The goal is usually a cleaner interface and less data collection. iFixit launched FixBot in December 2025, an AI chatbot trained on repair guides, while researchers at the Royal College of Art built AI-Fixer to walk users through electronics repairs.

Manufacturers call it unauthorized modification. AI companies call it policy violation. OpenAI and Anthropic have suspended accounts for what they classify as cyber abuse or exploit development. OpenAI runs a bug bounty program and a coordinated vulnerability disclosure policy. Anthropic operates a responsible disclosure channel and uses its own models to find flaws in open-source code. The line between legitimate repair and prohibited activity remains undefined.

France criminalized planned obsolescence in 2015. The EU’s Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation now mandates durability and repairability requirements. Yet the tools to enforce those rights are increasingly built by users, not regulators.

McArhony’s driver has been downloaded hundreds of times. The washer still washes. The dryer still dries. The app still connects.