Interest is intense in the open-source AI agent "Openclo (Claude Bot)". It spread online by word of mouth among developers and, in about a week, evolved into a keyword that made prominent media headlines.

Openclo supports automation of various tasks including email and calendar management, web search and use of online services. Users must install it and link it with Anthropic’s Claude model or ChatGPT. It currently operates through text commands on messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, Telegram and Discord. In particular, its "persistent memory" function can learn user behavior and carry out customized tasks.

ㆍOpen-source AI agent "Openclo" spreads beyond Silicon Valley to China as well

Interest in Openclo expanded even faster as "Moltbook", a social network service that only AI agents can join, emerged based on Openclo. Sam Altman and Elon Musk also weighed in with a comment each.

ㆍHuman involvement on a platform dedicated to AI bots… Moltbook controversy spreads ㆍMixed reviews of Moltbook… Sam Altman "a temporary fad", Elon Musk "an early stage of the singularity"

As much as interest is running high, so is controversy. Security concerns are also growing in step with attention on Openclo. A flood of criticism says it could be extremely risky from a security standpoint if people who are not familiar with the technology misuse it.

ㆍAI assistant "Claude Bot" warned over leaks of personal information and API keys ㆍMicrosoft AI safety team "Openclo is not yet a finished product"… security concerns

Alliances among major tech companies around physical AI also appear to be spreading. Recently, cooperation between manufacturing software companies and Nvidia has been gaining momentum.

Dassault Systemes officially announced cooperation with Nvidia to build a physical AI platform at its annual conference, 3DEXPERIENCE World 2026. Under the partnership, Dassault Systemes’ virtual twin technology, which digitises physical objects, will be integrated with Nvidia’s computing platform, AI models and CUDA-X software libraries. Dassault Systemes said this can support a range of applications across biology, materials science, engineering and manufacturing, as well as an AI-based "virtual companion" embedded in the Dassault Systemes 3DEXPERIENCE platform. Siemens also signed a partnership with Nvidia to expand GPU-based digital twins.

ㆍ"Expand virtual twins with physical AI... from products to factories into software" ㆍFrom AI factories to virtual twins... Dassault Systemes-Nvidia form physical AI platform alliance ㆍNvidia-Siemens alliance for fully AI manufacturing infrastructure... expand GPU-based digital twins

Moves by tech companies at home and abroad seeking to develop or use AI continued this week as well.

OpenAI is launching its AI-based coding assistant app "Codex" as a standalone app for Apple computers. OpenAI is pushing to raise an additional $100 billion in funding, valuing the company at about $830 billion. In the process, Amazon is highly likely to invest at least $50 billion, it was reported. OpenAI’s AI video generation app "Sora" drew explosive popularity right after its release in October last year, but is now seeing a sharp decline, according to reports.

ㆍOpenAI AI coding tool Codex to launch as a standalone app for Apple computers ㆍAmazon seeks large-scale investment in OpenAI... up to $50 billion ㆍOpenAI Sora app falls after flashy debut… why?

Apple introduced agent coding functions on its app development platform Xcode. Apple supports Xcode users in using AI coding functions by linking OpenAI and Anthropic AI agents. Apple also acquired Israeli audio AI startup Q.AI.

ㆍApple adds Anthropic and OpenAI agents to Xcode ㆍApple acquires Israeli audio AI startup Q.AI... "$2 billion bet"

Anthropic is adding plugin functions to its AI collaboration tool Cowork as part of efforts to strengthen customized automation. The feature is designed so non-developers can use it easily, and it supports tailored automation across marketing, legal and customer support tasks. Anthropic’s moves appear to be weighing on the share prices of existing enterprise software providers. Observers also appear to be increasingly forecasting that the features Anthropic unveiled could expand into high value-added industries such as legal, consulting and financial services, and threaten the existing software industry.

ㆍAnthropic adds agentic plugins to Cowork... supports customized automation ㆍAI fears spread... software and information services firms hit in stock market

AI data cloud company Snowflake signed a $200 million partnership with OpenAI. Under the partnership, OpenAI models will be provided by default in Snowflake Cortex AI, and Snowflake’s roughly 12,600 customers worldwide can use them across major cloud environments including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud Platform.

ㆍSnowflake partners with OpenAI in a $200 million deal… provides OpenAI models in Cortex AI

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on a conference call after the latest quarterly earnings announcement that Meta rebuilt its Meta AI program in 2025 and will launch new AI models and products in the coming months. Highlighting AI-based commerce, he stressed that "new AI shopping tools will enable personalized product recommendations".

ㆍMeta signals major AI commerce push... "compete with the most personalized AI shopping experience"

The game industry is on edge after Google announced "Project Genie", which uses AI to generate 3D virtual environments. Reports also said the shares of game companies such as Take-Two, Roblox and Unity fell by as much as 21 percent. Google also expanded functions in the Google Maps app so pedestrians and cyclists can use its AI assistant Gemini.

ㆍGame company shares slide after Google announces world model "Project Genie"

AI CRM company Salesforce unveiled its next-generation "MuleSoft Agent Fabric" that can integrate and manage AI agents and tools scattered across companies. Elice Group unveiled an AI document analysis solution, "Helpy Document Vision", that lets AI analyse complex document formats on its own and convert them into structured data. AI startup Wadle is supplying its conversational AI agent solution "Gentoo" to South Korean ballet goods shopping mall Iballetshop, providing a ballet-goods-focused real-time customer consultation service. Startup accelerator SparkLabs made a seed investment in TeamKai, a provider and operator of customer consultation AI agents.

ㆍSalesforce unveils MuleSoft Agent Fabric... integrated management of AI assets ㆍElice Group launches AI document analysis solution ㆍWadle supplies AI agent Gentoo to ballet goods shopping mall Iballetshop ㆍSparkLabs makes seed investment in customer consultation AI agent provider and operator TeamKai

Reports say a plan by Nvidia to invest up to $100 billion in OpenAI has hit a snag. One interpretation is that questions were raised inside Nvidia about the deal.

ㆍNvidia-OpenAI struggle to detail massive $100 billion partnership... why?

Around the Lunar New Year holiday, Chinese big tech companies are rolling out next-generation AI models one after another. Attention is focusing not only on how much they might threaten U.S. companies such as OpenAI, Google and Anthropic, but also on what variables they could become in China’s AI landscape.

ㆍNext-generation Chinese AI models are coming... Lunar New Year big match anticipated