The father of "Lobster" invites collaboration. Why is Baidu being pursued?

Produced by | “Attitude”

Even if you’re not in the tech industry, you’ve probably heard of the recent OpenClaw “Lobster” craze, and may have even jumped into the scene.

As a rising star in intelligent agents, it has grown hands that can operate across apps like humans, it has eyes that recognize UI visually, enabling it to drive any closed-loop software without APIs; it can be deployed extremely simply: allowing ordinary people to cultivate “cyber labor” with low barriers, ushering in an era of one-person companies (OPC).

Recently, Beijing’s first OpenClaw “Lobster Market” was held at Baidu Technology Park, attracting over 1,000 AI enthusiasts. We observed on-site that employees from neighboring giants Tencent, Sina, Lenovo, and others came to watch and install, with long lines forming.

Preemptive Positioning

“Lobster” Creator Praises Baidu

The popularity of Baidu’s Lobster Market drew the attention of Peter Steinberger, founder of the global open-source intelligent agent project OpenClaw. On March 13, the “Lobster” creator publicly expressed on overseas social platforms, not only praising Baidu’s OpenClaw service deployment efficiency but also explicitly hoping to collaborate with Baidu on joint development, beyond just technical deployment.

This transoceanic invitation instantly brought Baidu’s recent intensive moves in the intelligent agent field into the spotlight.

On the same day, Baidu launched the world’s first mobile “Lobster” app, “Red Finger Operator.” It is reported that after launch, it quickly sparked a download frenzy, with resource shortages appearing in the system backend. Baidu Intelligent Cloud immediately expanded computing power to ensure platform stability. This mobile-oriented app is Baidu’s consumer-side deployment of OpenClaw, breaking the original technical barrier limited to developer circles.

The “Attitude” column editor tested and found that users can control mobile intelligent agents via the Red Finger Operator app to complete various commands, and also achieve cross-app scenarios like ride-hailing and food delivery, truly pushing cutting-edge AI agents from technical concepts into the consumer market. Behind the rapid popularity of Red Finger Operator, it confirms the public’s demand for lightweight, scenario-based AI products and highlights Baidu’s mature engineering transformation capabilities.

However, just one day before the launch of “Red Finger Operator,” Baidu Intelligent Cloud announced the release of DuClaw, an open deployment service for OpenClaw. This service integrates Baidu’s own ecosystems such as search, encyclopedias, academic search, and more, compatible with multiple mainstream AI models, significantly lowering deployment and usage barriers for users.

From the timeline, Baidu acted swiftly. As early as January this year, when OpenClaw was just gaining global popularity and had not yet become an industry trend, Baidu Intelligent Cloud launched a minimal deployment solution, becoming one of the earliest Chinese tech companies to enter this open-source intelligent agent project. In mid-February, the founder of OpenClaw announced joining OpenAI and engaging in next-generation personal intelligent agent development, indirectly confirming Baidu’s early strategic layout, which hit the core development trend of intelligent agent technology. Its speed and implementation pace even surpassed related public moves by OpenAI.

More importantly, Baidu has been active at the ecosystem level and has achieved some results. Starting in February, Baidu accelerated ecosystem integration, successively launching Baidu E-commerce Skill on the OpenClaw community and integrating with Baidu Search APP, gradually connecting core internal ecosystems, completing a key upgrade from single technology deployment to full-ecosystem coordination.

Looking horizontally, from early positioning in January, ecosystem integration in February, to concentrated application deployment in March, Baidu has completed the full chain loop from technical deployment to mass-market product for OpenClaw.

Speed Determines Positioning

Ecosystem Determines Future

This coherent and efficient progression reflects Baidu’s precise prediction of the next-generation AI application direction. The “Attitude” column believes that future competition will focus on the integration of computing power adaptation, model compatibility, and ecosystem prosperity.

At the computing power level, OpenClaw itself is a lightweight execution framework that does not rely on extreme hardware. The core competition lies in the efficiency of end-edge-cloud coordinated computing power scheduling, achieving smooth local operation with lower hardware thresholds, while supporting complex tasks through elastic cloud computing, balancing privacy security and high concurrency response.

These are Baidu’s advantages and China’s innovation trump card.

At the model level, current competition has moved beyond simple parameter battles, focusing instead on seamless multi-model adaptation and precise task matching, efficiently connecting with mainstream global models, optimizing inference chains, and reducing execution costs.

At the ecosystem level, this is the key to determining the final landscape. Building an open, low-threshold co-creation system around skill markets, cross-app interactions, developer activity, and comprehensive scene tools can truly translate into daily value perceived by users.

The key to winning has been identified. Now, let’s see where Baidu’s ecosystem niche lies.

It is understood that Baidu leverages its “chip-cloud model” full-stack layout to form synergistic advantages in computing power adaptation, model compatibility, and ecosystem linkage. Relying on end-edge-cloud collaboration and mature engineering systems, Baidu can continuously provide a stable and efficient operating environment for OpenClaw, rapid tool support, and broad consumer entry points, further consolidating its leading position in lightweight intelligent agents.

Baidu’s product-side offensive is also diverse. DuClaw, Red Finger Operator, and Wenxin Assistant embedded in Baidu APP form a matrix layout in the “intelligent agent” field. Through lightweight, low-threshold, native embedding, they bring intelligent systems into everyday life. After the Spring Festival红包活动, Wenxin Assistant’s monthly active users increased fourfold, confirming the huge potential of this track.

The “Attitude” column believes that the era of intelligent agents is no longer a distant dream. On the road to AGI, “Lobster” type agents already have a “killer application” quality, becoming human “colleagues” and “partners.”

Currently, these scenarios are no longer imagination but part of daily life. Baidu’s mobile ecosystem has 700 million monthly active users. When users search “how to write a daily report,” Baidu directly invokes the built-in “Lobster plugin” to assist. In “Seconds,” Coding Agent helps OPC entrepreneurs achieve “zero-code” app development. “Radish Express,” as a “walking intelligent agent,” has been deployed in 26 cities worldwide, steadily scaling operations. Cutting-edge applications like digital humans are also emerging.

Right now, the “Lobster” battle has become a must-fight for major tech giants. To win this race, Baidu’s “depth” in products and “breadth” in ecosystems will surely become powerful weapons, enabling Baidu to build long-term barriers. We look forward to it.