By Eduardo Baptista
March 9 – Districts in the Chinese tech hubs of Shenzhen and Wuxi have announced measures to build an industry around OpenClaw, an AI agent being adopted rapidly even as regulators warn of security risks linked to the tool’s access to personal data.
OpenClaw is an open-source AI assistant created by Austrian Peter Steinberger that does everything from booking flights to organising email, allowing an individual to perform the work of several and function as a “one-person company”.
After appearing in November, the tool has become one of the fastest-growing projects in GitHub’s history, and U.S. AI giant OpenAI last month hired Steinberger to build the next generation of AI agents.
It has particularly taken off in China, where new technologies are often adopted very fast. Tech giant Tencent hosted an OpenClaw setup session in Shenzhen that drew children and retirees as well as developers.
OpenClaw can be plugged into models from OpenAI, Anthropic and Chinese developers including Kimi and MiniMax.
SECURITY CONCERNS OVER OPENCLAW FLAGGED
Shenzhen’s Longgang district, which set up China’s first AI and robotics bureau last year, released draft measures on Saturday to build an OpenClaw-centred AI ecosystem and support “one-person companies”.
It cited a recent central government report backing future industries such as “embodied intelligence”, which powers motion, and humanoid robots.
Wuxi National High-tech District, also known as Xinwu, on Monday published similar draft measures focused on OpenClaw.
Progress in high-tech industries, and the use of OpenClaw, has been highlighted at the ongoing National People’s Congress.
But regulators and state media have also flagged security concerns around OpenClaw, underscoring Beijing’s long-standing concern over cyber risks and data breaches.
Wuxi’s measures acknowledged security concerns, stating that cloud platforms providing OpenClaw must ban access to sensitive data directories and explore creating an AI compliance service center to focus on issues such as cross-border data transfers and IP protection.
SUBSIDIES FOR ‘ONE-PERSON COMPANIES’
Both Longgang’s and Xinwu’s draft measures were presented as part of “AI plus” action plans to integrate the technology across the economy, in line with national planning priorities through 2030.
Longgang’s proposed package includes subsidies and financing of up to 10 million yuan ($1.4 million) for companies that build notable OpenClaw applications, free computing resources, accommodation and discounted office space for “one-person companies” based in the district.
Xinwu offered up to 5 million yuan ($690,000) for projects applying OpenClaw to manufacturing-related technologies such as embodied-intelligence robots and automated inspection.
(Reporting by Eduardo Baptista; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
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