WEBVTT - Meet OpenClaw: The AI Craze Sweeping China 0:00:02.720 --> 0:00:07.200 Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. 0:00:08.480 --> 0:00:11.160 If you were in Shenzhen in early March, you might 0:00:11.160 --> 0:00:14.520 have caught an unusual sight outside the headquarters of one 0:00:14.520 --> 0:00:15.960 of China's biggest tech. 0:00:15.800 --> 0:00:20.079 Companies, Chanjo more say the open Claw. 0:00:20.960 --> 0:00:24.880 Crowds of people huddled around mixshift tables in an open courtyard. 0:00:25.400 --> 0:00:28.840 Everyone had a laptop in hand. People were shoulder to 0:00:28.920 --> 0:00:33.800 shoulder typing, tinkering, troubleshooting. It looked like an outdoor hackathon 0:00:33.960 --> 0:00:35.800 had broken out in the middle of the city. 0:00:36.320 --> 0:00:40.880 There were hundreds of people from retire's elderlies to school 0:00:40.920 --> 0:00:43.960 kids and of course Yawn office workers. 0:00:43.960 --> 0:00:47.599 LUs Ding covers China Tech for Bloomberg out of Hong Kong. 0:00:47.800 --> 0:00:50.559 And they were all there to get tension engineers to 0:00:50.600 --> 0:00:52.920 install open Claw on their computer. 0:00:53.680 --> 0:00:55.360 Loose what is open claw. 0:00:56.080 --> 0:00:59.639 It's a very capable AI agentic tool. It's much more 0:00:59.680 --> 0:01:03.040 capable than AI chatbots. It can't help you to do 0:01:03.160 --> 0:01:06.200 your work on your computer like swarming files, edit videos, 0:01:06.520 --> 0:01:07.520 making purchases. 0:01:08.120 --> 0:01:11.319 Tools like open Claw aren't something you can just download 0:01:11.360 --> 0:01:12.240 from an app store. 0:01:12.760 --> 0:01:15.480 They require technical setup and a bit of know how. 0:01:15.800 --> 0:01:19.560 That's why in China people are organizing gatherings like the 0:01:19.600 --> 0:01:22.840 one at ten Cents headquarters to help potential users get 0:01:22.880 --> 0:01:27.080 open Claw up and running. Nearly a thousand people showed 0:01:27.160 --> 0:01:29.920 up to that particular meetup, one of many across the 0:01:29.959 --> 0:01:31.360 country this past month. 0:01:33.200 --> 0:01:35.600 I think it really is a vouch for the amount 0:01:35.600 --> 0:01:37.880 of AI enthusiasm that we've seen in China that we 0:01:38.240 --> 0:01:39.760 really haven't seen in other places. 0:01:40.280 --> 0:01:44.160 Catherine Thorbeck is a Bloomberg Opinion tech columnist based in Tokyo. 0:01:44.720 --> 0:01:47.400 When you have local governments coming out and signaling support 0:01:47.600 --> 0:01:49.920 and sort of the big tech players and the small 0:01:49.960 --> 0:01:53.080 startups and the model builders all jumping on this bandwagon 0:01:53.080 --> 0:01:54.880 at once, I think it really created this sort of 0:01:55.280 --> 0:01:58.120 title wave of you know, it just shows how fast 0:01:58.240 --> 0:02:00.960 technology trends can really spread China. 0:02:01.240 --> 0:02:04.520 China has the most open claw users in the world, 0:02:04.960 --> 0:02:08.400 almost double the activity in the US. That's according to 0:02:08.440 --> 0:02:12.880 cybersecurity firm Security Scorecard. But as the hype surrounding open 0:02:12.919 --> 0:02:17.320 Class surged, so has the scrutiny. The initial enthusiasm for 0:02:17.360 --> 0:02:21.240 the technology is now being met with caution, as users 0:02:21.280 --> 0:02:24.520 in China's government way whether the benefits of the tool 0:02:25.080 --> 0:02:28.000 justify the risk of such deep access. 0:02:28.480 --> 0:02:31.840 When you give these tools access to your personal data, 0:02:31.960 --> 0:02:35.000 your personal files, your computer, and then you also give 0:02:35.000 --> 0:02:37.600 them permission to take action. The amount of things that 0:02:37.600 --> 0:02:40.560 can go wrong really just compounds. So there have been 0:02:40.600 --> 0:02:43.160 reports of these tools sort of going rogue and you know, 0:02:43.200 --> 0:02:45.480 deleting all of your emails or deleting all of sort 0:02:45.480 --> 0:02:50.840 of your personal files. 0:02:52.840 --> 0:02:56.320 This is the Big Take Asia from Bloomberg News. I'm Wanha. 0:02:56.840 --> 0:02:59.239 Every week we take you inside some of the world's 0:02:59.240 --> 0:03:03.160 biggest and most powerful economies and the markets, tycoons and 0:03:03.280 --> 0:03:05.000 businesses that drive this. 0:03:05.040 --> 0:03:06.040 Ever shifting region. 0:03:06.400 --> 0:03:10.240 Today in the show, China's rushed toward open Claw. What 0:03:10.320 --> 0:03:13.320 the technology does, why it took off so fast in 0:03:13.360 --> 0:03:15.919 the country, and what it tells us about the risks 0:03:15.960 --> 0:03:26.880 and realities of AI's next base. When open Claw launched 0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:29.639 in November of last year, it took off right away. 0:03:30.320 --> 0:03:34.040 Part of that success was the product itself. Open Clau's 0:03:34.080 --> 0:03:38.160 founder describes it as AI that actually does things. One 0:03:38.200 --> 0:03:41.360 of the tech world's biggest names, Jensen Huang of Nvidia, 0:03:41.440 --> 0:03:45.480 called it the single most important release of software probably ever. 0:03:46.400 --> 0:03:50.280 The other part of that success the popularity of the lobster. 0:03:53.120 --> 0:03:58.040 The logo open claw looks like a very cute cartoonish lobster. 0:03:58.320 --> 0:04:01.280 It looks like Aminion from the Menims movie, but then 0:04:01.320 --> 0:04:05.800 it's read and it has claws. Also spicy lobster. It's 0:04:06.040 --> 0:04:08.320 very favorite dish in China. Part of the fan fair 0:04:08.400 --> 0:04:09.240 is also because of that. 0:04:09.880 --> 0:04:12.800 Spend five minutes at an open claw event and you'll 0:04:12.800 --> 0:04:16.919 see lobster hats, lobster plushies, and you'll hear a phrase 0:04:17.000 --> 0:04:22.040 that's become popular in China, yng loncha, which roughly translates 0:04:22.080 --> 0:04:26.920 to raising lobsters loose? What is raising lobsters? 0:04:27.640 --> 0:04:31.080 Raising means that you first install it and then you 0:04:31.160 --> 0:04:33.600 spend time with it, and of course spend money on it, 0:04:34.080 --> 0:04:37.400 and then open clall learns what you like and dislike. Say, 0:04:37.400 --> 0:04:40.160 it learns different skills, and it's like raising a pat, 0:04:40.440 --> 0:04:43.160 only the pet is a virtual AI assistant that can 0:04:43.320 --> 0:04:43.920 work for you. 0:04:44.920 --> 0:04:49.239 A virtual AI assistant also known as an AI agent. 0:04:49.920 --> 0:04:53.120 These agents are based on large language models from open 0:04:53.160 --> 0:04:56.200 ai and Anthropic, but you don't just chat with them. 0:04:56.320 --> 0:04:59.240 You can figure them to do things for you. Come 0:04:59.279 --> 0:05:02.799 through emails, book flights, and appointments. They can even trade 0:05:02.880 --> 0:05:06.159 crypto or negotiate a deal for car for you, depending 0:05:06.160 --> 0:05:09.839 on how much access you granted. And while Openclaw is 0:05:10.000 --> 0:05:14.040 hugely popular in China, it isn't a Chinese product. It 0:05:14.120 --> 0:05:18.320 was created by Peter Steinberger, a developer from Austria. But 0:05:18.440 --> 0:05:21.200 since the AI tool is open source, it's free for 0:05:21.320 --> 0:05:25.880 anyone to use or modify. Earlier this year, Chinese developers 0:05:25.920 --> 0:05:28.440 started tinkering with it and it took on a life 0:05:28.440 --> 0:05:30.680 of its own in China. 0:05:30.960 --> 0:05:35.359 Since after China came back from the Lunar New Year holiday, 0:05:35.960 --> 0:05:39.840 there were more discussions about it on social media and 0:05:39.880 --> 0:05:43.080 then a lot of people wanted to try it. It's 0:05:43.080 --> 0:05:47.680 a very new tool that promises a lot of things 0:05:47.720 --> 0:05:50.200 that the previous AI tools cannot do. 0:05:51.000 --> 0:05:54.240 In China, AI is very much a part of daily 0:05:54.360 --> 0:05:58.479 life right now. The country's most popular AI app, Gobao, 0:05:58.680 --> 0:06:02.719 has roughly two hundred twenty seven million active users every month. 0:06:03.240 --> 0:06:05.080 That's almost double that of deep Sicks. 0:06:05.720 --> 0:06:07.039 But even in AI. 0:06:06.839 --> 0:06:12.040 Hyped China, the popularity of open Class stands out. 0:06:12.480 --> 0:06:15.360 We live in a very competitive society in China, and 0:06:15.960 --> 0:06:18.400 starting from kids, we were told that you need to 0:06:18.480 --> 0:06:21.080 always be at the front. You need to do your 0:06:21.120 --> 0:06:24.400 best all the time, otherwise you will leg behind. And 0:06:24.440 --> 0:06:27.600 then with there's something new and then people's reactions are 0:06:27.680 --> 0:06:30.640 usually just to jump on it before everybody else and 0:06:30.680 --> 0:06:33.680 not be late. For example, I talked to this computer 0:06:33.760 --> 0:06:39.000 engineer in Shinjin who after starting using AI agents, he's 0:06:39.040 --> 0:06:42.080 been using it all the time, and he was telling 0:06:42.120 --> 0:06:44.400 me that he couldn't even go to sleep without giving 0:06:44.480 --> 0:06:47.520 some task for his AI to do. And then one 0:06:47.560 --> 0:06:50.799 of our colleagues in China, she talked to this office 0:06:50.839 --> 0:06:54.760 worker whose boss told her to use AI otherwise you 0:06:54.800 --> 0:06:58.800 get fired. Really, the bosses are anxious as well, because 0:06:58.839 --> 0:07:01.800 they also want to have their employees to be very 0:07:01.839 --> 0:07:04.360 productive with AI and then to make more money. 0:07:04.960 --> 0:07:08.279 Part of that anxiety comes from pressure at the top. 0:07:08.839 --> 0:07:11.440 In China, the push for AI is coming from the 0:07:11.560 --> 0:07:15.200 highest levels of the government, and AI even made its 0:07:15.240 --> 0:07:18.320 way into President Siegenping's New Year address this year. 0:07:19.040 --> 0:07:24.840 Curzy s many large AI models have been competing in 0:07:24.880 --> 0:07:28.040 a race to the top, and breakthroughs have been achieved 0:07:28.160 --> 0:07:32.080 in the research and development of our own chips. All 0:07:32.160 --> 0:07:35.480 this has turned China into one of the economies with 0:07:35.600 --> 0:07:38.720 the fastest growing innovation capability. 0:07:39.640 --> 0:07:44.760 Bloomberg Opinions Katherine Thorbeck says the government is aggressively driving 0:07:44.920 --> 0:07:47.120 this AI push. 0:07:46.440 --> 0:07:48.520 The government really wants to be a world leader when 0:07:48.520 --> 0:07:50.800 it comes to AI technology, and when you look at 0:07:50.840 --> 0:07:53.960 the AI plus plan that they rolled out last year, 0:07:53.960 --> 0:07:56.480 they really are trying to use AI to solve a 0:07:56.480 --> 0:07:59.440 lot of sort of societal problems, whether that's boosting consumption, 0:07:59.560 --> 0:08:01.920 which it's not totally clear how AI will do that, 0:08:02.160 --> 0:08:04.400 but they definitely are trying to integrate AI into as 0:08:04.440 --> 0:08:07.520 many facets of society as possible. And then another reason 0:08:07.560 --> 0:08:09.800 I think that it's moving so fast in China is 0:08:09.840 --> 0:08:12.880 because of the open source embrace. All of the big 0:08:13.000 --> 0:08:17.280 Chinese AI model builders are really going full steam ahead 0:08:17.280 --> 0:08:20.600 on open source, which means they're putting out their new models, 0:08:20.640 --> 0:08:22.600 they're putting out the weights for them, they're free for 0:08:22.640 --> 0:08:25.360 people to use and download. And I think as a 0:08:25.360 --> 0:08:28.880 result of that, this whole ecosystem of developers and tinkers 0:08:28.960 --> 0:08:30.760 can all sort of look at the code and move 0:08:30.800 --> 0:08:32.200 things along a lot faster. 0:08:33.640 --> 0:08:37.880 In other words, when AI becomes a political priority, tech 0:08:37.920 --> 0:08:41.920 trends like open claw can move quickly. Several local governments 0:08:41.960 --> 0:08:44.920 have already backed that momentum by offering more than a 0:08:45.000 --> 0:08:48.400 million dollars in subsidies to support open claw and similar 0:08:48.440 --> 0:08:52.600 open source projects, and the country's tech giants have followed suit. 0:08:53.080 --> 0:08:55.720 Ten Cent and buy Do launch their own versions of 0:08:55.760 --> 0:08:58.480 open claw in March, using them as a way to 0:08:58.559 --> 0:09:02.120 pull people onto their page platforms. Loose tried some of 0:09:02.160 --> 0:09:03.239 them out for herself. 0:09:04.240 --> 0:09:07.400 Now there are a lot of cloud based offers that 0:09:07.480 --> 0:09:10.800 you can raise the observer on the cloud so it 0:09:10.840 --> 0:09:15.920 doesn't access your local desktop and local files. I chose 0:09:16.000 --> 0:09:18.959 two platforms. One is from ali Baba and it was 0:09:19.000 --> 0:09:22.640 a free service. Another two that's under by Dance. It's 0:09:22.760 --> 0:09:28.120 TikTok's parent company. I paid ninety nine per month and 0:09:28.200 --> 0:09:31.680 that's about fourteen to fifteen dollars. Once you paid for 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:34.960 a month, you have a certain amount of tokens or 0:09:35.000 --> 0:09:38.480 credits that you can use. If you, for example, wanted 0:09:38.480 --> 0:09:41.480 to start your email, you need to granted the access 0:09:41.480 --> 0:09:44.079 to your email and then it will do it. 0:09:44.559 --> 0:09:46.640 And what did you ask it to do for you? 0:09:47.200 --> 0:09:49.800 I asked it to send news briefs about the companies 0:09:49.840 --> 0:09:52.440 that I cover as a journalist. It did not do 0:09:52.520 --> 0:09:55.200 a very good job because the news resources that it 0:09:55.240 --> 0:09:58.040 can access is very limited. And now it just asked 0:09:58.080 --> 0:10:00.120 it to send me a cat photo every hour. 0:10:00.760 --> 0:10:02.200 A cat photo every hour. 0:10:02.320 --> 0:10:04.600 Yeah, that's what I need in my life. 0:10:06.160 --> 0:10:10.040 But beneath the novelty, there's a serious difference between open 0:10:10.080 --> 0:10:13.280 claw and traditional AI chat bots like deep seek and 0:10:13.360 --> 0:10:17.560 chat GBT, and that's the amount of access these tools require. 0:10:18.400 --> 0:10:20.480 For open Claw, you need to give it a lot 0:10:20.520 --> 0:10:24.040 of access. For example, it needs to read your files 0:10:24.280 --> 0:10:27.360 to swart your file. It need to access your editing 0:10:27.440 --> 0:10:30.480 software to edit for you. And if you wanted to 0:10:30.480 --> 0:10:32.280 buy things for you, you need to give it to your 0:10:32.400 --> 0:10:35.480 credits information, which is kind of a redfleg. 0:10:38.320 --> 0:10:41.440 Beijing may be all in on the idea of spurring 0:10:41.480 --> 0:10:46.120 innovation with AI, but open claus powerful capabilities are giving 0:10:46.160 --> 0:10:48.480 the government pause after the break. 0:10:48.600 --> 0:10:50.640 Why the sweeping access. 0:10:50.240 --> 0:10:54.960 Granted to AI agents makes Chinese regulators uneasy, and why 0:10:55.000 --> 0:11:12.280 some Chinese users are shying away from it too. While 0:11:12.320 --> 0:11:15.440 open Claw has been embraced by users, tech giants, and 0:11:15.520 --> 0:11:19.000 even some local governments in China, the response from Beijing 0:11:19.280 --> 0:11:20.840 has been more restrained. 0:11:22.720 --> 0:11:26.839 Open Clay open there. 0:11:27.920 --> 0:11:30.920 The Chinese government has issued a security alert on the 0:11:31.000 --> 0:11:34.640 risks of using open Claw, emphasizing that users might be 0:11:34.720 --> 0:11:39.040 susceptible to cyber attacks and data leaks. Bloomberg's loose Ding 0:11:39.200 --> 0:11:43.320 and Bloomberg opinions. Katherine Thorbeck say regulators have allowed the 0:11:43.400 --> 0:11:46.280 tool to spread, but with clear limits. 0:11:47.400 --> 0:11:53.720 The military that's overseeing technology industry has issued warnings about 0:11:53.720 --> 0:11:58.120 the security risk of this tool. State media also posted 0:11:58.880 --> 0:12:03.000 articles about how to use open claw safely. Then they 0:12:03.040 --> 0:12:07.160 were also authority spanning the use of open claw in 0:12:07.960 --> 0:12:11.960 sensitive industries like government agencies, banks. 0:12:12.720 --> 0:12:15.000 So I think the government is very aware of the risks, 0:12:15.040 --> 0:12:16.800 and I think they're just trying to strike that balance 0:12:16.840 --> 0:12:20.280 between embracing innovation and seeing where this takes them. And 0:12:20.640 --> 0:12:23.199 also they're obviously very concerned about sort of data leaks 0:12:23.200 --> 0:12:24.040 and data privacy. 0:12:24.800 --> 0:12:29.559 That caution centers on one big question, what happens when 0:12:29.600 --> 0:12:34.000 these tools are given broad access to people's data and devices. 0:12:34.840 --> 0:12:37.640 You mentioned the security risks associated with open claw, What 0:12:38.000 --> 0:12:40.600 are those and what can go wrong? 0:12:41.200 --> 0:12:43.440 Oh gosh, So when it comes to the cybersecurity risks 0:12:43.440 --> 0:12:46.040 for open claw, I'm not even sure where to start. 0:12:46.080 --> 0:12:49.520 I think when you give these tools access to your 0:12:49.520 --> 0:12:52.960 personal data, your personal files, your computer, and then you 0:12:53.000 --> 0:12:55.679 also give them permission to take action, the amount of 0:12:55.679 --> 0:12:58.720 things that can go wrong really just compounds. So there 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:01.240 have been reports of these tools sort of going rogue 0:13:01.240 --> 0:13:03.720 and you know, deleting all of your emails or deleting 0:13:03.720 --> 0:13:06.400 all of sort of your personal files. So that's one 0:13:06.440 --> 0:13:08.320 side of it, and then on the other side, I 0:13:08.320 --> 0:13:10.480 think it also sort of invites all sorts of new 0:13:10.520 --> 0:13:14.400 sort of cybersecurity attackers and cyber attackers. And so the 0:13:14.440 --> 0:13:16.400 way I sort of think about it is, if you remember, 0:13:16.559 --> 0:13:19.439 like the two thousands Internet, when we were all just 0:13:19.520 --> 0:13:22.600 kind of downloading various softwares onto our PC, and none 0:13:22.640 --> 0:13:24.920 of us really knew what we were downloading, but there 0:13:24.960 --> 0:13:27.760 was definitely a curiosity, but we might not have understood 0:13:27.760 --> 0:13:30.160 that we're also downloading all these viruses. So I think 0:13:30.160 --> 0:13:32.440 we're seeing some of that as well with people, because, 0:13:32.480 --> 0:13:34.840 as I mentioned, you need some little bit of a 0:13:34.840 --> 0:13:37.880 tech background to really use open claw and plug ins 0:13:37.920 --> 0:13:39.160 and sort of the things that you can do on 0:13:39.200 --> 0:13:40.840 top of it. So I think people are downloading all 0:13:40.920 --> 0:13:43.839 kinds of things and not totally aware of what they're 0:13:43.880 --> 0:13:46.200 installing and what sort of permissions they're granting. 0:13:46.960 --> 0:13:49.040 By now people in China have had some time to 0:13:49.080 --> 0:13:51.520 play around with open claw, I want to talk about 0:13:51.559 --> 0:13:55.320 how Chinese users are feeling about the tool. Now you know, 0:13:55.360 --> 0:13:59.000 after the initial excitement and frenzy, there have you heard 0:13:59.080 --> 0:14:03.040 about this one lobster freeway saying that's trending on Chinese 0:14:03.040 --> 0:14:03.640 social media? 0:14:04.240 --> 0:14:06.680 Yes, this sort of hashtag that you're referring to that 0:14:06.720 --> 0:14:10.320 has taken off now. One lobster three ways refers to 0:14:11.040 --> 0:14:14.200 paying somebody to install open claw for them, and then 0:14:14.720 --> 0:14:17.080 paying somebody else or a lot of times that same 0:14:17.080 --> 0:14:20.000 person to uninstall open claw for them, and then also 0:14:20.080 --> 0:14:22.520 paying them to clean up the mess that open Claw 0:14:22.600 --> 0:14:25.320 might have left behind on their computer, whether that's deleting 0:14:25.360 --> 0:14:28.840 files or swing all kinds of chaos. So I definitely 0:14:28.920 --> 0:14:32.760 think that the initial excitement has moderated a little bit. 0:14:35.520 --> 0:14:38.960 But even as the hype settles, Catherine says, it's clear 0:14:39.080 --> 0:14:42.640 that China's big tech companies are betting on agenic Ai 0:14:43.160 --> 0:14:46.400 to be the next big driver of growth. The country 0:14:46.440 --> 0:14:49.240 is a testing ground for it, and what happens next 0:14:49.480 --> 0:14:50.520 is still worth watching. 0:14:51.160 --> 0:14:54.560 I really look at it as this real world experiment 0:14:54.640 --> 0:14:58.040 where regular people are playing around with agentic tools and 0:14:58.080 --> 0:15:00.200 seeing what it can do for their lives, and it 0:15:00.240 --> 0:15:03.400 can actually boost productivity and sort of what the risks are, 0:15:03.440 --> 0:15:06.120 and that's happening at such a massive scale in China, 0:15:06.640 --> 0:15:09.320 and it's really a double edged sword because the more 0:15:09.520 --> 0:15:14.320 permissions and data and access that you give to AI agents, 0:15:14.400 --> 0:15:16.800 the more they can do, and that's really exciting. But 0:15:16.840 --> 0:15:18.600 then at the same time, the flip side of that 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:21.000 is the more damage they can also cause. So I 0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:25.280 think making AI agents secure isn't something that either side 0:15:25.280 --> 0:15:26.920 has really figured out yet, and I think it's going 0:15:26.960 --> 0:15:29.160 to take a lot of time. I will say that 0:15:29.200 --> 0:15:32.560 one benefit to open claw is that it is open source, 0:15:32.640 --> 0:15:35.640 so that means that the more people at this scale 0:15:35.680 --> 0:15:37.880 that are all using it at the same time, the 0:15:37.880 --> 0:15:40.000 more it sort of hardens it because people are, you know, 0:15:40.040 --> 0:15:43.200 figuring out bugs, then people are sending patches. I think 0:15:43.200 --> 0:15:45.560 if you look at it at the enterprise level, this 0:15:45.680 --> 0:15:49.080 has the potential to be absolutely enormous, and I think 0:15:49.080 --> 0:15:51.600 in ways that we don't even fully understand, you know. 0:15:51.640 --> 0:15:53.560 I think if you can fully automate the work that 0:15:53.960 --> 0:15:56.320 say an intern does or an entry level worker does, 0:15:56.400 --> 0:15:58.280 I think that can really have profound effects on the 0:15:58.320 --> 0:15:58.960 labor market. 0:16:00.280 --> 0:16:03.600 And in terms of the flip side, where could this 0:16:03.720 --> 0:16:04.560 experiment fail. 0:16:05.240 --> 0:16:07.680 I think in the longer term, you know, as much 0:16:07.760 --> 0:16:10.760 as the tech industry likes to say that AI agents 0:16:10.800 --> 0:16:14.200 are there to empower workers. I don't necessarily buy that. 0:16:14.320 --> 0:16:17.880 I think the goal is really to replace workers, and 0:16:17.920 --> 0:16:19.640 so I think in China that's actually going to be 0:16:19.640 --> 0:16:22.320 a really big thing to watch because youth unemployment has 0:16:22.400 --> 0:16:25.840 remained persistently high since the pandemic, and I think if 0:16:25.880 --> 0:16:29.840 you have large swaths of educated and unemployed young people 0:16:29.920 --> 0:16:31.640 that are looking for jobs and that are being put 0:16:31.640 --> 0:16:34.080 out of work by these AI tools, I think that 0:16:34.400 --> 0:16:36.680 doesn't bode well for social stability, and I think that 0:16:36.720 --> 0:16:39.200 will be sort of a big test for the Chinese government. 0:16:39.680 --> 0:16:41.560 I think in the near term we'll have to see 0:16:41.920 --> 0:16:44.880 how much this actually sticks and if people are actually 0:16:45.480 --> 0:16:47.560 able to build trust with AI agents. 0:16:47.880 --> 0:16:52.320 And ultimately, Catherine says, how China handles tools like Openclaw 0:16:52.720 --> 0:16:56.080 could shape the next phase of the global AI race. 0:16:57.040 --> 0:17:00.400 Building the top of the line frontier models is side 0:17:00.440 --> 0:17:02.160 of it, and then the other side of the sort 0:17:02.200 --> 0:17:04.840 of AI race is diffusion and how do you integrate 0:17:04.880 --> 0:17:07.680 AI into as many facets of the economy and as 0:17:07.680 --> 0:17:10.360 many facets of society as possible. And I think we're 0:17:10.400 --> 0:17:13.800 seeing China really pick up on the diffusion race. We're 0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:17.680 really seeing that they're willing to try out this new technology, 0:17:17.760 --> 0:17:20.840 willing to see how it can increase productivity in their 0:17:20.840 --> 0:17:24.000 personal lives and their work lives, which I think actually 0:17:24.280 --> 0:17:26.159 is the race that we should be watching, because I 0:17:26.160 --> 0:17:29.000 think that's where you really see the biggest benefits from 0:17:29.040 --> 0:17:33.080 major tech evolutions in history. I think from that perspective, 0:17:33.320 --> 0:17:36.120 it definitely shows that China is sort of leaping ahead 0:17:36.119 --> 0:17:39.320 when it comes to AI. They're embracing it, they're using it, 0:17:39.359 --> 0:17:42.200 they're experimenting, and I think in doing so, they're also 0:17:42.280 --> 0:17:44.880 sort of making their own models better. You know, they're 0:17:44.920 --> 0:17:47.919 giving real world feedback to their own models, and I 0:17:47.920 --> 0:17:50.199 think that just only improves them. So I think that 0:17:50.200 --> 0:17:52.160 could really tip the scales in the long run when 0:17:52.160 --> 0:17:54.440 it comes to this broader sort of AI race. 0:18:03.800 --> 0:18:07.119 This is The Big Take Asia from Bloomberg News. I'm wanha. 0:18:07.440 --> 0:18:10.120 To get more from The Big Take and unlimited access 0:18:10.160 --> 0:18:13.120 to all of Bloomberg dot Com, subscribe today at Bloomberg 0:18:13.160 --> 0:18:16.440 dot com slash podcast Offer. If you like the episode, 0:18:16.600 --> 0:18:19.159 make sure to subscribe and review The Big Take Asia 0:18:19.240 --> 0:18:20.880 wherever you listen to podcasts. 0:18:20.960 --> 0:18:23.720 It really helps people find the show. Thanks for listening, 0:18:23.840 --> 0:18:24.560 See you next time.