Open-source artificial intelligence agent "OpenClaw" is gaining explosive popularity in China despite concerns over personal data breaches. Shenzhen, known as "China's Silicon Valley," has jumped into fostering the industry with subsidies and startup support measures.
According to local media on the 9th, Shenzhen's Longgang District announced "Several Measures to Support OpenClaw and OPC (One-Person Company) Development" the previous day. The policy includes subsidizing companies' OpenClaw adoption costs and providing up to 2 million yuan (approximately 420 million won) in grants to firms developing and distributing related technology packages. This marks the first time a local government has directly introduced measures to promote OpenClaw. Chinese media outlet China News Network assessed that "the strategy aims to reduce initial startup costs to 'zero' level and make Shenzhen a hub for AI agent startups."
The craze is spreading across China. On the 6th, when a free OpenClaw installation event was held at Tencent's headquarters in Shenzhen, more than 1,000 people lined up in an "open run" phenomenon. According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the event attracted not only developers but also retired engineers, homemakers, and students. In Shanghai, more than 300 participants recently flocked to an OpenClaw developer event hosted by Baidu and others to participate in a free installation lottery.
OpenClaw, developed by Austrian engineer Peter Steinberger, is an AI agent that directly operates users' computer systems to perform tasks. It is considered one step more advanced than ChatGPT or Gemini, which remain at the level of answering user questions. It resembles Anthropic's Claude in that it can access users' computers to provide practical convenience. As word of its convenience spreads through Chinese social networking services, it is rapidly gaining traction among both developers and general users. However, due to the relatively complex installation process, posts offering to install it for fees ranging from 300 to 1,000 yuan are appearing on Chinese SNS. Some vendors claimed they earned 260,000 yuan (approximately 52 million won) in just a few days from installation services alone.
The spread of OpenClaw aligns with the Chinese government's policy stance actively encouraging AI commercialization. Premier Li Qiang mentioned "intelligent agents," a concept encompassing OpenClaw, in his work report at the National People's Congress on the 5th, announcing plans to encourage related startups. Zhou Hongyi, founder of China's top cybersecurity firm 360 Group and a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said, "We will soon release a one-click installation version so that anyone can easily raise a 'lobster' (OpenClaw's nickname)."
However, concerns also exist. China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology warned that OpenClaw could cause security issues such as information leaks or loss of system control, given its ability to make autonomous decisions. SCMP reported that "southern China is rapidly embracing this technology despite concerns over personal data breaches."
