Chinese mainland’s enthusiasm for OpenClaw is igniting a stock rally in local technology firms moving swiftly to embrace the open-source artificial intelligence program.
Tencent Holdings Ltd shares rose 7.3 percent Tuesday in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, its best day in a year, after the internet giant launched WorkBuddy, an AI agent for workplace tasks that’s fully compatible with OpenClaw. Knowledge Atlas Technology JSC Ltd, known as Zhipu, surged 13 percent after launching AutoClaw, a local version of the viral software.
MiniMax Group Inc, which launched its own agent earlier, soared 22 percent, taking its market value above Baidu Inc in just two months after listing.
Launched in November, OpenClaw is an agent that leverages large language models including Anthropic PBC’s Claude to perform daily functions. The tool has provided a fresh tailwind for the local AI boom kicked off by the launch of DeepSeek more than a year ago.
“OpenClaw has created a social media buzz, with companies like Tencent encouraging everyone to install it,” said Shen Meng, director of Beijing-based investment bank Chanson & Co. “It’s a very good opportunity for the local AI model developers to attract users to their existing ecosystems.”
The AI agent has seen an exponential global popularity boom this year, surpassing Linux on the GitHub all-time star leaderboard in just a few months.
Tencent offered free installation of OpenClaw on its cloud platform last week, drawing a long queue of people outside of its headquarters, according to local media. Zhipu countered in a WeChat promotion for its new AutoClaw on Tuesday, offering prospective customers a free trial without having to wait in line.
The frenzy has helped drive up shares of AI model developer MiniMax nearly 640 prtvrny since its listing just two months ago. It’s now worth about $49 billion, surpassing Baidu Inc’s market value. The company launched MaxClaw, an agent built on OpenClaw, in late February.
Stocks have also been supported by local governments’ incentives. Software makers such as UCloud Technology Co extended gains after surging around 20 percent on Monday as a district in Shenzhen issued policies to encourage use of the OpenClaw. Changshu city in Jiangsu province also rolled out similar measures.
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The involvement of Tencent is seen as key, with Citigroup Inc hailing the launch of WorkBuddy as a “potential inflection point” for AI agents on the mainland. In a sign of how fast the company is moving, Tencent on Tuesday afternoon said it has started testing “QClaw”, which will be embedded in its WeChat ecosystem.
