The ‘raising lobsters’ craze that swept China is rapidly turning into a move to ‘erase lobsters’. This follows authorities’ warnings about security issues with the open AI agent OpenKlo.

‘Lobster’ is the nickname used in China for OpenKlo. Inspired by its lobster-shaped logo, installing and using the program is described as ‘raising lobsters’.

China was in the throes of the lobster-raising boom just a few days ago. On the 6th, when Shenzhen-based information technology (IT) company Tencent held a free OpenKlo installation event, about 1,000 people flocked in, including not only program developers but also students and homemakers. Because OpenKlo’s installation process is intricate, third-party installation services sprang up; the fee, which was 19.9 yuan (about $3.20 (4,300 KRW)) through the end of last month, jumped tenfold within a week to 199 yuan (about $32 (43,000 KRW)) early this month.

OpenKlo is a program developed by Austrian engineer Peter Steinberger. Once the user issues a command, it can autonomously handle tasks such as replying to emails, reserving meeting rooms, creating PPTs, and coding. While it is credited with opening the door to full-fledged use of AI for office work, it is vulnerable to hacking, and errors could lead to critical security incidents. Kakao and Naver have banned in-house use of OpenKlo for security reasons.

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) had also been warning about OpenKlo’s security risks since last month, but could not contain curiosity and enthusiasm. In particular, one-person startups using OpenKlo align with the AI-driven economic transition that the government has declared a new growth engine. Solo entrepreneurs have sprung up in research and content production. Some local governments, including the Gaoxin District of Wuxi in Jiangsu Province, even offered subsidies to encourage use of OpenKlo.

Through the Two Sessions, the Chinese government put its weight behind the security issue. On the 8th, MIIT advised that it could cause problems such as information leaks and loss of system control. When MIIT and affiliated bodies such as the National Internet Emergency Center issued repeated advisories on the 10th and 11th, the exodus from OpenKlo gathered pace.

According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), universities including Jiangsu Normal University, Anhui Normal University, and Zhuhai University of Science and Technology banned the use of OpenKlo on campus. At one point on the 12th, ‘OpenKlo removal’ rose to the top search term on Xianyu, Alibaba’s secondhand marketplace. Removal services are also visible on other platforms such as Xiaohongshu. That is because it is tricky to delete it without leaving a backdoor (a hidden door that enables unauthorized access). Some sellers priced removal services at 299 yuan (about $47 (64,000 KRW)), higher than installation.

The Beijing News also reported on the 13th that those who first jumped into ‘raising lobsters’ are now rushing to ‘erase lobsters’. On social media, there is self-deprecating commentary that only the middlemen handling installation and removal made money.

There are also positive assessments of the lobster-raising and -erasing commotion. Gao Wen, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering who raised OpenKlo’s security issues during the Two Sessions as a deputy to the National People’s Congress, said in an interview with The Beijing News, “Interest in large language models (LLMs) was not high until last year, but it changed after DeepSeek,” identifying heightened interest in and familiarity with AI as the backdrop to this lobster-raising boom.

The state-run English-language outlet Global Times also said, “China’s innovation ecosystem is equipped for rapid trial and error and timely correction,” interpreting the craze as part of the process of building a market in which the AI industry prospers rationally.