By Roman Bodnarchuk
10XAI.news | Special Series 11 of 14 | Research checked October 18, 2026
Imagine spending years developing a product and then reading that someone recreated a competitor’s core algorithm in an afternoon.
It is understandable that the story would unsettle a founder.
What we can establish
In a Hacker News discussion titled “Using AI to reverse engineer hardware,” a commenter writing as valdiorn claims to have used Claude to reproduce algorithms from several audio products. The comment is a firsthand account of what its author says happened. I have not inspected the artifacts or independently verified the claimed fidelity, timing, or product coverage. [1]
It is a lead worth investigating, not evidence that every competitive moat has disappeared.
My judgment
Ask which part of your customer’s decision depends on a feature a competitor could reproduce.
Then ask what else the customer needs to receive the promised result.
A hypothetical business-software buyer might care about implementation, dependable service, permitted data access, integration with existing systems, and a team willing to stand behind the outcome. Those factors can matter even when two products offer similar functions.
None should be assumed to protect your company forever. Each deserves evidence. If you believe support is your advantage, examine resolution quality. If you believe trust is your advantage, ask customers what behavior earned it. If you believe your knowledge is unique, identify which knowledge and how it is maintained.
I would run a customer-centered imitation exercise: suppose a competitor offers a similar visible feature tomorrow. What would your customers still value enough to choose you? Which of those reasons can you substantiate today?
Keep the exercise grounded in legitimate competition. A technical ability to reproduce something does not establish permission to use or distribute it. Work with material you own or are authorized to assess.
Your 10X action
List your three strongest claimed advantages. For each, write one piece of customer evidence and one event that would weaken it.
Copy this prompt
Assess the defensibility of [offer] using only our own materials and permitted customer research. Separate reproducible features from distribution, service, integration, relationships, and maintained expertise. For every claimed advantage, request evidence and identify what could erode it. Propose one customer interview and one operating measurement. Do not treat an online anecdote as proof or propose copying proprietary material.
Reply with the reason customers would still choose you if your visible features became common.
Roman Bodnarchuk
10XAI.news