by CHEN Xiaotong

Tencent Holdings has launched WorkBuddy, a workplace AI agent designed to automate office tasks and integrate with enterprise messaging tools, marking the company’s entry into the emerging market for desktop AI assistants.

The product went live on March 9 and supports OpenClaw skills, allowing users to assign tasks through simple commands, according to Tencent Cloud. It can also be remotely controlled through WeCom, Tencent's workplace messaging platform, and integrates with QQ, Feishu and DingTalk.

Developed by the CodeBuddy team at Tencent Cloud, WorkBuddy began internal testing on Feb. 6. Tencent said more than 2,000 employees have already used the tool for tasks including data analysis and office automation.

Unlike traditional chatbots, WorkBuddy is designed to execute tasks directly. It includes more than 20 built-in skill packages and supports the MCP protocol.

The platform supports several Chinese large language models, including Hunyuan, DeepSeek, GLM, Kimi and MiniMax, and is built on the same architecture as Tencent CodeBuddy with unified accounts, billing and security auditing.

Interest in such tools has surged following the rise of OpenClaw, an open-source AI assistant developed by Austrian developer Peter Steinberger and nicknamed "the lobster" because of its red icon.

Installing OpenClaw locally can require significant technical expertise, creating a small but growing market for deployment services. Data from the Chinese marketplace Xianyu showed daily transactions for OpenClaw-related services rose 150% month-on-month as of March 5, while inquiries increased more than 120%.

On March 6, Tencent Cloud offered free OpenClaw installation outside its Shenzhen headquarters, with engineers helping users deploy the system using Tencent Cloud's Lighthouse service. According to Cailian Press (CLS), nearly 1,000 developers and AI enthusiasts queued for assistance and reservation slots were quickly filled.

Authorities have also warned of potential security risks. China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said some OpenClaw deployments using default or improper configurations could be vulnerable to cyberattacks or data leaks.

Officials advised organizations to strengthen authentication, access control and other security safeguards.