Peter Steinberger, the creator of OpenClaw, highlighted the stark contrast in the adoption of AI agents between China and the rest of the world, noting that in China, the installation of OpenClaw is popularly referred to as “raising lobsters,” with thousands lining up at Tencent’s office in Shenzhen to get it set up. In fact, the Shenzhen government supports this initiative through subsidies for OpenClaw-based businesses. Conversely, in many other regions, such as the United States, installing similar tools like OpenAIClaw could lead to immediate termination if company policies against using them are enforced. This disparity is further illustrated by a Chinese entrepreneur who requires each employee to automate one task daily with OpenClaw, firing those who fail to comply.

OpenClaw: OpenClaw is an open-source software framework for building personal AI agents that can autonomously perform digital tasks like web browsing, email handling, code execution, and task automation, designed to run locally and independently of big tech ecosystems. Originally launched as Clawdbot and later Moltbot, its source code was released on GitHub in November 2025 and has gained rapid global adoption. In the news, Peter Steinberger highlights its explosive popularity in China, where installing it is culturally termed ‘raising lobsters,’ with businesses mandating its daily use for task automation.
Peter Steinberger: Peter Steinberger is an Austrian software engineer and entrepreneur who founded the document processing company PSPDFKit (now Nutrient) and created the open-source AI agent OpenClaw. Since February 2026, he has been working at OpenAI to advance personal AI agents while ensuring OpenClaw remains independent under a planned foundation sponsored by OpenAI. In this talk, he contrasts China’s enthusiastic embrace of OpenClaw—complete with subsidies, long lines at tech offices, and workplace mandates—with restrictions elsewhere that risk firing users for installing it.

`json
{
“China Adoption”: “In China, OpenClaw installation is referred to as ‘raising lobsters,’ with many queuing at Tencent’s Shenzhen office, and subsidies provided for OpenClaw-based businesses.”,
“Global Contrast”: “Outside China, using OpenAIClaw in professional settings with default configurations risks termination of employment.”,
“Workplace Mandate”: “A Chinese entrepreneur requires daily automation of tasks using OpenClaw for every employee, with penalties for non-compliance.”
}
`