As ‘lobster fever’ grips China, Tencent makes OpenClaw-based tool available on WeChat

2026.03.18 07:20 Tencent has made QClaw a WeChat mini- program as it promotes its OpenClaw AI agent. Photo: Handout Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings has integrated its QClaw AI agent as a mini-program in its flagship WeChat app as it pushes to expand adoption of its OpenClaw-based tool. It said QClaw was now accessible as a mini-program inside WeChat after an upgrade on Wednesday that allowed users to transfer files to their personal computers. QClaw was launched last week as an OpenClaw-based artificial intelligence agent for personal computers that users could control remotely from WeChat on their smartphones. Following an upgrade to the initial text-only version, users would soon be able to send commands from smartphones to PCs via audio messages and images through the mini-program. In the future, it would also include functions such as the ability to set automated timed tasks, the company said. The new version, still in beta testing mode, would be made accessible to more users than the initial version, Tencent said. The QClaw upgrade is part of Tencent’s efforts to make it easier to deploy and use the AI agent directly within WeChat, a super app with over 1.4 billion monthly active users, as Chinese tech companies race to capitalise on the country’s “lobster fever”. OpenClaw, which was released late last year, is an AI agent that can perform tasks on a computer, including coding, managing files and booking tickets. But it can also access deep system permissions, making it both a highly coveted artificial intelligence tool and a potential data and privacy challenge that has sparked regulatory concern in China. It has been met with greater enthusiasm in China than in other markets, according to analysts, who attributed the difference to China’s large base of developers, high levels of consumer and corporate interest in jumping on the agent bandwagon, and relatively low costs. Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding launched its OpenClaw app JVS Claw last

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