There's method to China's OpenClaw madness

WEEKS INTO THE craze, nobody quite knows what to make of the OpenClaw mania sweeping China, marked by viral photos of retirees lining up for installation events and users gathering in red claw hats.

- CATHERINE THORBECKE

The queues and cosplay inspired by the “raising a lobster” trend make for irresistible China clickbait. But the West is fixating on the least important part of the story. As a consumer craze, OpenClaw, the AI agent designed to do tasks on a user’s behalf, will likely burn out. Without some developer background, it’s too glitchy and technically awkward for true mainstream adoption.

Much of the narrative has centered on what the madness says about Chinese consumers’ appetite for Al, and whether that enthusiasm could tilt the broader—and arguably more consequential—diffusion race. Even Peter Steinberger, the creator of OpenClaw who recently joined OpenAI, has suggested that the US can learn from China’s rapid Al adoption.