Users have reported that the artificial intelligence assistant Claude has started interrupting tasks related to the reverse engineering of software and firmware. The complaints are concentrated on Claude Opus 5.5, the version released in September with improvements in programming capabilities, and cover analyses of games and attempts to modify smart TV systems.
These complaints gained prominence after being posted on Reddit, indicating that the model may start an activity and stop it midway through the response as soon as it triggers a security check. Anthropic has not confirmed any targeted changes for this type of use.
Reverse engineering consists of the ability to inspect a program to understand its functioning, even without access to the original source code. This methodology is used in security investigations, compatibility testing, and creating modifications.
Some reports involve REA (Reverse Engineer Anything), an open-source project that integrates AI agents with analysis tools, automating steps that would normally require technical knowledge and manual effort. Interest in this technique has also increased due to projects that use AI to recompile games to run on different platforms, including browsers.
A detailed example was presented by Decrypt. A user asked Claude Code to implement an alternative interface on an LG TV running the webOS operating system. During the process, the user encountered a security barrier imposed by Opus 5.5. The assistant suggested switching to Opus 4.8, but this older model also stopped steps in the procedure.
This incident does not prove that TV reverse engineering is completely blocked, but rather that security filters can interfere with certain technical tasks. Anthropic had already strengthened its cybersecurity protections upon the launch of Claude Opus 5.5. In its official statement, the company assures that development and code correction activities remain permitted, and to date, there is no proof that Anthropic has formally prohibited the entire practice.