In early March, OpenClaw (playfully referred to as the "AI lobster")—an open-source AI agent created by Austrian developers—went viral. The frenzy was sparked by scenes of nearly a thousand people traveling from other cities to queue outside the Tencent Building to install the system, as well as by the nationwide phenomenon of "raising lobsters" (deploying personal AI agents) that became a hot topic for NPC deputy Gao Wen. Its core ability to autonomously execute tasks 24/7 has won countless fans, but the high barrier to local deployment dampened the enthusiasm of citizens for "raising lobsters." The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) became the first region for mass adoption, with Shenzhen taking the lead in breaking down technical barriers.

On March 6th, nearly 1,000 developers and AI enthusiasts traveled from various districts of Shenzhen, Hong Kong, and even Hangzhou to the Tencent Building. With the assistance of Tencent Cloud engineers, they achieved a free, one-click deployment of OpenClaw in just 5 minutes by using Lighthouse. Currently, the number of "cloud-based lobster raisers" has exceeded 100,000 and continues to climb.

On March 9th, Tencent launched WorkBuddy, a ready-to-use, deployment-free tool that connects with WeCom (WeChat Work) in just one minute and is fully compatible with all OpenClaw functionalities. Shenzhen has also introduced an unconditional subsidy of 5,000 Credits to continuously lower the barrier to entry. This has attracted numerous vendors, including Alibaba Cloud and UCloud, to accelerate their strategic initiatives, forming an ecosystem where the entire industry jointly promotes the popularization of technology.

In the corporate sector, over 2,000 non-technical employees at Tencent have improved their work efficiency with WorkBuddy. On the government front, the "government lobster" service introduced by Futian District, Shenzhen, slashes the pre-approval time for health permit modifications from one working day to just a few minutes, allowing submissions and pre-approvals to be completed on the same day.

Gao Wen, an NPC deputy and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, highlighted during the two sessions the key reason why the GBA became the birthplace of "raising lobsters." The real-world application demands, he explained, have turned AI agents from mere technological curiosities into practical tools. The "raising lobster" community in the GBA has expanded well beyond the tech sphere, unlocking the real-world value of AI agents across a wide range of scenarios and enabling technological innovation to truly serve industries and daily life. He also proposed that the open-source release of AI agents be included as a topic for discussion at the APEC sub-forum.

第一批养“龙虾”的人 为何出现在大湾区？

3月初，从腾讯大厦前近千人跨城排队装机的热潮，到全国人大代表高文热议的全民“养龙虾”现象，奥地利开发者打造的开源AI智能体OpenClaw（“小龙虾”）爆火，其能7×24小时自主执行任务的核心能力圈粉无数，却因本地部署门槛高让全民“养虾”热情遇阻，而大湾区成为其普及第一站，深圳更是率先打破技术壁垒。

3月6日，近千名开发者与AI爱好者从深圳各区、香港甚至杭州跨城赶来，在腾讯云工程师协助下，通过Lighthouse实现OpenClaw5分钟一键免费部署。目前“云上养虾人”规模已突破10万并持续攀升。

3月9日，腾讯上线WorkBuddy，免部署即装即用，1分钟连企微，兼容OpenClaw全技能。深圳还推出5000 Credits无门槛补贴，持续降低使用门槛。吸引了阿里云、优刻得等一众厂商加速布局，形成了全行业共推技术普及的生态格局。

在企业办公场景，腾讯超2000名非技术员工用WorkBuddy实现办公提效；政务端，深圳福田“政务龙虾”让卫生许可变更预审从1个工作日缩至数分钟，实现当日提交当日预审。

全国人大代表、中国工程院院士高文在两会上点出了大湾区成为“养龙虾”发源地的核心逻辑——真实的场景需求，让AI智能体从技术玩物变成实用工具。大湾区的“养虾”群体早已突破技术圈层，在多元场景中解锁AI智能体的实际价值，让技术创新真正服务于民生与产业。他建议将AI Agent开源开放纳入APEC分论坛讨论。

文、图｜记者 沈婷婷
翻译｜黄健新
审校｜盛嘉