OpenClaw, the viral AI agent previously known as Clawdbot and Moltbot, has rapidly gained traction in China, prompting major tech companies to integrate the autonomous assistant into their platforms. Since last week, Tencent, Alibaba, and ByteDance’s Volcano Engine have begun supporting OpenClaw, making it significantly easier for Chinese users to deploy and run the AI agent.
The integration extends to popular workplace collaboration tools including Alibaba’s DingTalk and Tencent’s WeCom, the enterprise version of WeChat. This move enables Chinese professionals to automate various workplace tasks through the AI agent, which is designed to operate 24/7 and connect with a wide range of consumer applications.
OpenClaw first gained widespread attention in tech circles last month, attracting endorsements from prominent figures including Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan and multiple partners at Andreessen Horowitz. The agent’s capabilities include managing schedules, overseeing coding sessions, and even building AI employees, making it a powerful automation tool for businesses and individuals.
Tencent Cloud announced last Thursday that its servers now offer a preconfigured OpenClaw application template, allowing users to deploy the AI assistant with minimal setup. Alibaba Cloud has similarly rolled out support, connecting OpenClaw to models from Alibaba’s Qwen series. Volcano Engine published deployment guidelines on Monday while emphasizing critical safety considerations.
The agent’s popularity has exploded on Chinese social media, particularly on RedNote, where tutorials and demos have garnered thousands of likes and saves. One user known as “Brother C” posted a tutorial that received over 4,000 likes and 6,000 saves. Another user, “Teacher Du,” described his experience as “truly mind-blowing,” stating that “the concept of a true AI employee is getting closer.”
Chinese users are even purchasing Mac Minis specifically to run OpenClaw as a dedicated AI assistant. However, the enthusiasm comes with significant security and privacy concerns. Cybersecurity specialists warn that OpenClaw requires extensive access to users’ files, login credentials, browser activity, and other sensitive data. The agent is vulnerable to “prompt injections”—a tactic using hidden instructions to trick AI into leaking data or performing unauthorized actions. Despite these warnings, adoption continues to accelerate across China’s tech ecosystem.
Key Quotes
Because the tool has extensive data, account, and network access permissions, please deploy it in a dedicated environment, avoid handling sensitive information, and be sure to review permissions regularly and set access restrictions for ECS and API keys.
Volcano Engine (ByteDance’s cloud services arm) issued this warning in their deployment guidelines, highlighting the significant security risks associated with granting OpenClaw broad system access. This caution underscores the tension between the agent’s powerful capabilities and potential vulnerabilities.
My experience was truly mind-blowing. The concept of a true AI employee is getting closer.
A RedNote user posting as “Teacher Du” shared this enthusiastic assessment after deploying OpenClaw, reflecting the excitement among Chinese users about AI agents’ potential to automate complex workflows and function as virtual employees.
It’s incredibly convenient, I can control it remotely to organize files and handle all sorts of tasks.
RedNote user Wu Bin described his experience after purchasing a secondhand Mac Mini specifically to run OpenClaw as a dedicated AI assistant, illustrating how users are investing in hardware infrastructure to support autonomous AI agents.
Using the agent could leave users’ data running naked all over the internet.
A RedNote user known as “Programmer Yago” issued this stark warning about OpenClaw’s security risks, representing the growing concern among tech-savvy users about the privacy implications of granting AI agents extensive system access.
Our Take
OpenClaw’s viral success in China reveals how quickly autonomous AI agents can transition from niche tools to mainstream adoption when backed by major tech platforms. The speed at which Tencent, Alibaba, and ByteDance integrated OpenClaw demonstrates these companies’ aggressive pursuit of AI agent capabilities, likely driven by competitive pressure and user demand.
What’s particularly striking is the enthusiasm persisting despite clear security warnings—suggesting users perceive the productivity gains as worth the privacy risks. This mirrors patterns seen with other transformative technologies where convenience often trumps security concerns initially. The phenomenon of users purchasing dedicated hardware to run AI agents 24/7 indicates we’re witnessing the emergence of a new computing paradigm where always-on AI assistants become standard infrastructure. However, the prompt injection vulnerabilities highlighted by cybersecurity experts could become a major crisis point if exploited at scale, potentially triggering regulatory crackdowns that slow adoption.
Why This Matters
OpenClaw’s rapid adoption in China represents a significant milestone in the evolution of autonomous AI agents and their integration into mainstream business workflows. The involvement of tech giants like Tencent, Alibaba, and ByteDance signals that AI agents are transitioning from experimental tools to enterprise-ready solutions, potentially transforming how millions of Chinese workers approach daily tasks.
This development highlights the global race for AI agent supremacy, with Chinese companies moving quickly to capitalize on viral AI innovations. The integration into workplace platforms like DingTalk and WeCom could accelerate the displacement of routine knowledge work, bringing the concept of “AI employees” closer to reality.
However, the security vulnerabilities associated with OpenClaw raise critical questions about the trade-offs between automation convenience and data privacy. The agent’s requirement for extensive system access creates potential attack vectors that could expose sensitive corporate and personal information. As AI agents become more autonomous and deeply integrated into digital ecosystems, establishing robust security frameworks and regulatory guardrails becomes increasingly urgent. China’s approach to balancing innovation with security in this space may set important precedents for global AI agent deployment.
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