Recently, security enthusiast @log4j had his account banned by OpenAI for “network misuse.” This came after he reverse-engineered his newly purchased 2025 Samsung smart TV, leading to a financial loss of around $500. He found that the TV's firmware was encrypted with AES. After gaining root access through a “zero-day vulnerability,” he uncovered that the TV was constantly collecting user viewing records, household device information, and location data. This data was then uploaded to Samsung and over 400 partners via the ACR feature.

The incident drew widespread attention, with 1.3 million people viewing his post that exposed these privacy issues. This prompted many users to disconnect their TVs from the internet. Meanwhile, OpenAI and Anthropic started restricting requests related to reverse engineering. For instance, Claude halted its response mid-analysis due to security policies. This event not only brought to light the privacy issues in smart TVs but also sparked discussions on the legal and ethical boundaries of reverse engineering.