By Stephanie Yang, Joyce Jiang
At China’s hot new tech events, lobsters are everywhere –– lobster balloons, lobster headbands, lobster plushies in claw machines, even live lobsters in an inflatable kiddie pool.
But the attendees swarming the meet-ups are not here for the crustaceans –– they’re here for the new technology they represent: OpenClaw, an autonomous artificial intelligence tool, which can be programmed to run tasks nonstop with full control of the user’s device.
Rather than a simple question-and-answer format like most AI chatbots, OpenClaw uses the same underlying technology to independently operate apps, web browsers or smart home appliances based on commands via commonly used messaging apps like WhatsApp.
Created by Austrian programmer Peter Steinberger and released in November, the free AI agent has been hailed as a new way to supercharge productivity. Jensen Huang, CEO of the US chip giant Nvidia, has called it “the next ChatGPT” and “the most popular open-source project in the history of humanity.”
In China, OpenClaw has received a particularly fervent welcome among AI enthusiasts and novices alike. According to analysis of global public networks by SecurityScorecard, a New York-based cybersecurity firm, China has more OpenClaw users than any other country, with about double the activity of the US, which has next-largest base of users.
People queue to have OpenClaw installed on their laptops at Baidu headquarters in Beijing on March 11, 2026. Adek Berry/AFP/AGetty Images
Both tech companies and local communities have organized gatherings for “lobster-farming” –– a popular phrase in China for adopting OpenClaw –– with some drawing as many as 1,000 participants in major cities. On Chinese e-commerce sites, technical experts sell OpenClaw installation and configuration services for anywhere between $7 and $100.
The hype around OpenClaw has prompted other Chinese tech conglomerates to launch their own versions, with names like DuClaw, QClaw and ArkClaw. Local governments have jumped on the bandwagon, pledging subsidies for businesses using the virtual AI assistant to boost regional development.
OpenClaw’s nascent success exemplifies how China’s official embrace of advanced technology can translate into grassroots enthusiasm as Beijing pursues domestic growth and an ambitious global agenda. But the push is accompanied by concerns over cybersecurity risks and the potential for widespread job displacement.
Amid a wave of cybersecurity alerts from Chinese authorities, two state-backed cybersecurity agencies flagged again last week that OpenClaw could pose “serious security risks,” including remote takeover and data leaks. They released detailed safety guidelines for all users — from individuals to enterprises and cloud providers.
A participant plays a claw machine filled with lobster-shaped plush toys during a setup session for OpenClaw outside the Baidu offices in Beijing. Florence Lo/Reuters
“We all believe that AI will reshape every industry. It’s just a matter of time,” said Jimi Jin, a 33-year-old project manager in Shenzhen who mainly uses OpenClaw to manage work files. “This isn’t about being diligent or ambitious; it’s more about a desperate self-help strategy to avoid being left behind.”
The kind of automation OpenClaw offers has spurred hopes of efficiency gains in China –– where 93% of respondents to a 2025 KPMG survey said they already use AI in their work.
In comparison, the US has adopted a warier stance towards OpenClaw and other AI tools. In the KPMG survey, more American respondents were worried about AI than they were optimistic, and only 35% said the benefits outweighed the risks, compared with 69% in China.
Corki Xie, a 27-year-old software engineer in Beijing, installed OpenClaw a month ago, using it to respond to work messages, analyze data and post articles on social media.
“The gains in efficiency are quite significant,” he said, though he added he’s run into some errors.
Xie, who works at a large Chinese tech firm, said internet companies including his employer have “aggressively” encouraged the use of AI, linking OpenClaw to work performance.
OpenClaw’s arrival coincides with an economic slowdown in China that has exacerbated youth unemployment and sluggish domestic consumption –– with Beijing projecting its lowest growth rate in decades in 2026.
Major Chinese corporations, like home appliances brand Haier and EV maker XPeng, have touted plans to incorporate AI into their products and business operations.
Even local authorities are pinning their hopes on OpenClaw to support economic development and entrepreneurship. The city of Wuxi, a tech and manufacturing hub in the eastern province of Jiangsu, is offering up to 5 million yuan, or about $726,000, for projects predicated on the new AI agent.
But some early adopters fear AI will exacerbate an already difficult labor market.
Gao Jiahui, a 20-year-old software engineering student in Tianjin, once aspired to become a coder after graduation. Now she worries that the job she has been preparing for won’t exist by then.
Attendees wearing springy lobster headbands fish for real lobsters at Baidu's OpenClaw event in Beijing, March 17, 2026. Fred He/CNN
“AI is advancing so fast that straight-up coding tasks might not need me anymore,” said Gao, who paid $18 to attend an event in Beijing to learn how to use OpenClaw. “(That) anxiety is a major push for me to learn about it and install it.”
According to Sun Lichao, an assistant professor of computer science and engineering at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, the rapid uptake of OpenClaw in China will also likely contribute to a faster displacement of white-collar jobs.
“Any kind of collaborative work that involves standardized, repetitive tasks — especially writing code — is becoming 100% less valuable,” said Sun, whose PhD students now need fewer human collaborators for tasks like coding, because of AI.
“OpenClaw is a game changer — a very dangerous one.”
The eagerness of Chinese companies and individuals to use OpenClaw could be an advantage for China, as it seeks to become a world leader in AI.
China has made the development of AI a major tenet of its national strategy, aiming to reach 90% penetration in key sectors like science, governance and manufacturing by 2030. But, despite the lightning speed at which the Chinese AI industry is moving, it’s still seen to be playing catch-up with its American rivals.
Open-source technology like OpenClaw has allowed Chinese developers to innovate more quickly than expected, said Kyle Chan, a research fellow at the Washington-based Brookings Institution.
The ability for anyone to inspect, modify or enhance the models is a “big factor” in helping “the broader developer community move faster,” said Chan.
A man wearing a lobster hat attends Baidu's OpenClaw event in Beijing on March 17, 2026. Fred He/CNN
Chan said though Chinese companies see OpenClaw as an opportunity to gain users, US tech giants have been cautious about introducing cybersecurity risks to clients, and may prefer developing their own proprietary AI agents.
Organizations in both the US and China have flagged security concerns that come with giving OpenClaw access to personal accounts –– like email, banking and travel logins –– or work servers.
One warning, issued by China’s state-backed National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team in March, noted “severe security risks” that could lead to sensitive data leaks from individuals or businesses. For critical industries, these flaws could even “paralyze entire business systems” and cause “incalculable losses,” the notice said.
“They’re always trying to find this balance for these technologies that can offer a lot of opportunities, but then can also pose a whole bunch of different risks,” Chan said.
Participants line up near a lobster-shaped balloon to set up and install OpenClaw outside the Baidu offices in Beijing. Florence Lo/Reuters
As concerns about cost, security and performance have emerged, so have services offering uninstallation — for a fee. Still, vendors on e-commerce sites told CNN that demand for OpenClaw installation far outstrips orders for its removal.
Shin Wang, a 31-year-old e-commerce operations specialist, had OpenClaw installed on a spare laptop last week and named it JARVIS, after the AI butler in the movie “Iron Man.” However, Wang said he wouldn’t give it access to his work or personal files until he had thoroughly tested it.
“I’m hoping that in the future it will be able to completely free me from those manual tasks,” Wang said.
In addition to learning to use OpenClaw, Wang is also thinking about taking up another skill like cooking or playing a musical instrument. He sees it as a precaution — just in case AI becomes so sophisticated that he can’t find another job.
CNN’s Fred He and Rae Wang contributed reporting.
Source: china-openclaw-ai-anxiety-intl-hnk-dst
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