Free for 14 days, it emerged after Baidu Inc released its own Android app this week for OpenClaw, which helps users shop online and book travel, among other things. From Tencent Holdings Ltd to Minimax Group Inc, China’s biggest AI players are competing to offer OpenClaw services — feeding a nationwide frenzy dubbed “raising lobsters”. They are hoping to lower barriers to entry and tap a phenomenon named after OpenClaw’s animal mascot, in which students and retirees across the nation are experimenting with agentic AI. But Beijing has also moved to restrict state-run enterprises and government agencies from freely running OpenClaw AI apps on office computers, acting swiftly to defuse potential security risks. For agentic AI like OpenClaw to be really useful, it needs wide access to users’ data and their various apps.

Source: The Edge Markets March 13, 2026 08:15 UTC