Chinese Workers Turn to AI Agents as Economic Slowdown Complicates Job Search

The economic headwinds buffeting China have driven millions of job seekers toward an unexpected ally: artificial intelligence agents capable of managing their employment searches with minimal human oversight.

Hu Qiyun, a 24-year-old software engineer in Shanghai, represents a growing cohort of Chinese workers who have embraced OpenClaw, an open-source AI system that functions far beyond the capabilities of conventional chatbots. The technology memorizes his resume, searches daily for relevant positions, assists with applications, and tracks his progress through various hiring processes.

“I treat OpenClaw as my personal assistant,” Hu explained. “It saves me at least three hours each day.”

The distinction between OpenClaw and earlier AI systems is significant. Where previous technologies required detailed instructions for each task, OpenClaw operates with considerable autonomy once authorized. It can manage email correspondence, draft reports, and even make restaurant reservations without constant supervision.

Jensen Huang, chief executive of the American semiconductor company Nvidia, characterized OpenClaw as “the next ChatGPT” and described it as “the most successful open-sourced project in the history of humanity” during recent remarks to business media.

The Austrian programmer Peter Steinberger created OpenClaw, releasing it in November to immediate global attention. However, nowhere has adoption been more enthusiastic than in China, where the government has actively promoted generative AI as part of Beijing’s broader competition with Washington for technological supremacy.

The numbers tell a striking story. Earlier this month, hundreds gathered at technology conglomerate Tencent’s headquarters in Shenzhen, waiting for engineers to install the software without charge. According to data from the American cybersecurity firm SecurityScorecard, OpenClaw usage in China now nearly doubles that in the United States. A Chinese government report released last month indicated that more than 600 million Chinese citizens—over one-third of the population—currently use generative AI technologies.

Chinese internet users have dubbed the process of installing and configuring OpenClaw as “raising lobsters,” a reference to the software’s red logo. The phrase captures both the nurturing required and the personal connection users develop with their AI assistants.

Sky Lei, a Beijing-based content creator interested in learning programming, described his OpenClaw installation in revealing terms. “I kind of saw it as my personal assistant—something that belonged only to me,” he said. “Since I created it myself, it really felt somewhat alive.”

Yet this enthusiasm has encountered sobering reality. The software requires extensive access to personal data and can effectively control a user’s entire computer system. Without proper security configurations—challenging for non-technical users to implement—OpenClaw becomes vulnerable to remote exploitation.

These vulnerabilities have particular significance given that OpenAI, the American company behind ChatGPT, acquired OpenClaw last month. The acquisition places considerable Chinese user data potentially within reach of an American corporation, raising questions about information security that Beijing takes seriously.

The rapid adoption of OpenClaw in China illustrates both the desperation of workers navigating a difficult economy and the broader implications of the artificial intelligence race between the world’s two largest economies. As these technologies become more sophisticated and autonomous, the questions surrounding data security, privacy, and international competition grow more complex.

For now, Chinese workers like Hu continue their daily routines, their digital assistants working tirelessly in the background, searching for opportunities in an increasingly challenging economic landscape.