A fascination with AI bots, made with a program called OpenClaw, is sweeping China.

A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:

In China, everyone seems to be talking about raising lobsters. These are artificial intelligence bots known as little lobsters made with a program called OpenClaw. You hear that? Little lobsters made by OpenClaw, NPR's John Ruwitch checked out China's latest viral craze.

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JOHN RUWITCH, BYLINE: It's Saturday night and standing room only at a rooftop bar in Beijing called Biebox. People are looking hip. There's music and free drinks. But no one came here for the cocktails. This is a bring-your-own-laptop event for people who want to learn about OpenClaw.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).

RUWITCH: If AI chatbots like ChatGPT are talkers, OpenClaw agents are doers. They can answer emails, manage your schedule. You might've heard about it in the U.S. when OpenClaw AI agents made headlines when they started talking to each other on a social media platform called Moltbook.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Non-English language spoken).

RUWITCH: At the bar here in Beijing, pundits debate the pros and cons of OpenClaw. And techies have set up stands to assist with installation.

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RUWITCH: You can build your own bot or talk to Chelsea Dai with the company CoreSpeed. They have a $20-a-month subscription for premade agents. She explains what you might do with OpenClaw.

CHELSEA DAI: I would just tell my agent, could you please send me a message each day at 8 o'clock to conclude all the important or latest news related to, like, AI agent?

YODA LI: (Speaking Mandarin).

RUWITCH: One table over is 33-year-old Yoda Li (ph).

LI: Jedi Yoda (laughter).

RUWITCH: Jedi?

LI: Yeah, yeah.

RUWITCH: He named himself in English after the "Star Wars" character. He's getting OpenClaw installed on a laptop.

LI: (Speaking Mandarin).

RUWITCH: He says it's amazing to think that you can have a bot help you accomplish more. When the tech giant Tencent offered free OpenClaw installations at its headquarters in Shenzhen a few weeks ago, there were lines around the block.

VINKO ZHAO: (Speaking Mandarin).

RUWITCH: That kind of hype has a lot of people curious, which is why Vinko Zhao (ph) helped organize the event in Beijing.

ZHAO: (Speaking Mandarin).

RUWITCH: She says a lot of people in China have straight up FOMO - fear of missing out. They don't really know what OpenClaw is, but they're worried about not having it. Several local governments in China have actually encouraged the use of OpenClaw. The hope is that it can spawn what they call OPCs, or one-person companies, with a human who's helped by a bunch of AI agents. The central government has been more wary of giving bots access to networks and even potentially sensitive information like passwords. It restricts the use of OpenClaw on government work computers.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: (Non-English language spoken).

RUWITCH: Tonight, though, the party atmosphere spills downstairs from the bar into an overflow space. Attendees are kicking traditional jianzi, a hacky sack kind of toy. They can win vouchers for tokens if they kick it 10 or more times. Tokens are digital fuel for AI. More tokens means your little lobster can do more tasks.

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RUWITCH: Xian Yu, a blogger who covers AI, thinks it's all way overhyped.

XIAN YU: (Speaking Mandarin).

RUWITCH: He reckons at least half the crowd will not actually end up using OpenClaw. It's too technical. For Yoda Li, though, who already uses AI in his work in financial technology, it's worth a try.

LI: Just to go, What's it, man?

RUWITCH: "There's no point," he says, "in wallowing in anxiety."

John Ruwitch, NPR News, Beijing.

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