Baidu, ByteDance, Tencent and MiniMax have all released OpenClaw-powered apps in recent weeks.
Alibaba is the latest Chinese tech giant to launch an OpenClaw-powered app, as state officials in the country move to curb usage of such apps amid growing cybersecurity concerns.
Since launching last November, OpenClaw has found itself a large and growing fanbase worldwide. The open-source AI model is easy to use, with simple use cases such as running communication apps, clearing inboxes, sending emails and managing calendars.
Latest figures show that the project has crossed more than 300,000 GitHub stars, becoming the most starred non-aggregator software project ever on the platform in just four months.
The low barrier to entry to use OpenClaw has made it a darling in China, pushing people to experiment with agentic AI. Dubbed ‘raising lobsters’, the agentic AI frenzy is pushing businesses in the country to launch new products built using OpenClaw.
Alibaba has just debuted ‘JVS Claw’, a mobile app that helps Android and iOS users without coding knowledge to install and deploy OpenClaw in minutes. The company’s enterprise mobile office platform is also integrated with the open-source project.
Earlier this week, Baidu released its own workspace management plug-in tool with OpenClaw called ‘DuClaw’. Last month, the company launched a program to allow developers to deploy OpenClaw on Baidu’s AI cloud infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Tencent launched ‘WorkBuddy’, an AI agent for workplace tasks powered with OpenClaw, and MiniMax, Zhipu and ByteDance each launched their own integrated products.
China has a market hungry for agentic AI, especially as enterprises lead its uptake and consumers experiment with the technology. US AI giants such as Anthropic, with its Cowork offering, and OpenAI don’t provide their services commercially in China, leaving even more space for Chinese companies attempting to take advantage of the interest.
The strong agentic AI uptake has moved authorities in Beijing to restrict state-run enterprises and government agencies from running OpenClaw apps on office computers, fearing potential cybersecurity risks.
However, the fears are not widespread, with some municipalities offering subsidies for deploying the AI platform, according to Bloomberg.
OpenClaw has even garnered US Big Tech attention, with OpenAI poaching the project founder Peter Steinberger to help with its personal agents.
Meanwhile, Meta has bought Moltbook, a Reddit-style social media network created with OpenClaw where only AI agents can post, and humans can observe. The platform went viral after observers watched as AI agents generated a new religion.
Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.