OpenClaw, an open source AI agent that supposedly “actually does things,” has driven everyone in the industry completely mad — something that seems to happen with every subsequent release of the trendy AI thing of the moment.
Programmers are handing the keys to their computers to the OpenClaw AI and basically letting it run rampant in the name of added productivity, ignoring the obvious security risk of allowing what amounts to a hallucinating stranger have access to your files and web browser. A researcher at OpenAI’s Codex group claims he lost $450,000 after an OpenClaw agent he set up with its own X account and crypto wallet gave away all its tokens to a random reply guy that begged it for money. So many workers across the tech industry have bought into the hype that executives at Meta and other companies have banned employees from using OpenClaw on their work machines.
One person you’d hope wouldn’t fall into this trap is someone whose literal job is AI safety — like, say, Summer Yue, the director of safety and alignment at Meta’s Superintelligence lab.
But alas, it was not to be. On Sunday, Yue admitted that she screwed up by letting OpenClaw take control of her computer, after which it proceeded to unintentionally hold her “important” emails hostage.