Note: AI-generated image for representation

Software companies across the globe have lost over a trillion in market value in the past week. The carnage has been triggered by Anthropic’s AI tool. The rout triggered by Anthropic’s open-source legal plugin for Claude Cowork swept away some of the biggest tech names, including ServiceNow, Salesforce and Microsoft. India’s software exporters index, which houses names such as Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys Technologies, HCL Technologies and Wipro, plunged 6% in its worst session in nearly six years on February 2. Incidentally, as the exuberance over AI tools continue, there are also dangers and warning. Especially, about opensource AI Agents. According to a report by news agency Reuters, some of the biggest Korean technology companies, including Kakao, Naver and Karrot Market, are moving to restrict the use of the popular artificial intelligence (AI) agent OpenClaw within their corporate networks due to the rising concerns about security and data privacy. Three of the biggest Korean companies Kakao, Naver and Karrot recently reportedly told their employees, including developers, not to use the open-source agent, OpenClaw.Kakao confirmed the warning to employees. “We have issued a notice stating that, in order to protect the company’s information assets, the use of the open‑source AI agent OpenClaw is restricted on the corporate network and on work devices,” Kakao said, as per the report. Naver too also banned OpenClaw within the company, while Karrot is blocking both the use and access to OpenClaw and Moltbot. These companies have cited risks that are difficult for the company to manage or control.China too has reportedly restricted OpenClaw. The country’s industry ministry said that it had identified cases where users were running OpenClaw with inadequate security settings and called for stronger safeguards. While the warning from Chinese government does not amount to an outright ban, the ministry has advised companies using OpenClaw to rigorously review how it is exposed to public networks and to put in place a strong authentication and access controls mechanism.The industry-wide caution against OpenClaw in China and South Korea is said to reflect rising sentiment around the autonomous AI agents that are capable of performing human-like tasks without direct supervision.

What is OpenClaw that China and South Korea are warning about

Marketed as “the AI that actually does things,” OpenClaw runs directly on users’ operating systems and applications. OpenClaw is a self-hosted, open-source AI agent designed to act as the “hands” of a Large Language Model (LLM). While LLMs such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Google’s Gemini serve as the brain that understands and reasons, OpenClaw is said to carry out real-world actions. These include browsing the web, editing files, running system commands and interacting with online services through modular add-ons. OpenClaw enables local AI agents to automate workflows, interact with services, and control devices through “skills” modular extensions hosted on ClawHub.OpenClaw launched in November 2025 as an early-stage AI agent, it was previously called Clawdbot and Moltbot. However, over the past few weeks, concerns have grown that it can access sensitive corporate data or personal information, and that such access can create the potential for data leaks, system manipulation and cyberattacks.

Security companies warn about OpenClaw

Security firms SlowMist and Koi Security have uncovered hundreds of compromised extensions deploying infostealers like Atomic Stealer. Cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks has warned that the AI agent OpenClaw presents a “lethal trifecta” of risks stemming from its access to private data, exposure to untrusted content and ability to perform external communications while retaining memory.