Tencent, Zhipu shares rise after OpenClaw AI agents launch

Shares in several Chinese tech firms rose in Hong Kong after they launched AI agents compatible with the open-source OpenClaw program.

Tencent rose as much as 6.2% after launching WorkBuddy, an AI agent for workplace tasks, which the company said is fully compatible with OpenClaw.

Knowledge Atlas Technology JSC Ltd, known as Zhipu, jumped as much as 16% after unveiling AutoClaw, a local version of the software.

MiniMax Group Inc, which launched its own agent earlier, jumped 15%.

OpenClaw, launched in November under the name Clawdbot, leverages large language models, including Anthropic PBC’s Claude, to clear user inboxes, make reservations, and do other chores.

🔗 Source: Bloomberg

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

### OpenClaw’s hype is rooted in its risky autonomy

OpenClaw goes beyond a simple chores helper. It is an autonomous AI assistant that runs on a user’s own machine and connects to apps such as Slack and WhatsApp 1.
Its “heartbeat” scheduler lets it take action without prompts. It has negotiated a $4,200 car discount and disputed an insurance claim without the user’s permission 1.
That capability helped it reach more than 100,000 GitHub stars in three months 2.
The same reach raises security worries. A past flaw let attackers take full control of a user’s machine, plus 26% of audited skills had at least one vulnerability 1.

### Compatibility is a strategy to build a domestic AI ecosystem

Tencent wants to draw in developers from the open-source community.
Its WorkBuddy agent works with OpenClaw skills and ships as a ready-to-use product, while OpenClaw often needs a more technical self-hosted setup 3.
Once inside that environment, users can switch among domestic Chinese large language models (LLMs) such as Hunyuan (Tencent’s in-house AI model), DeepSeek, GLM, and Kimi 4.
Tencent also pushes enterprises to run the original OpenClaw on Tencent’s cloud infrastructure, which feeds leads into its cloud and enterprise services 5.