Finance chief’s remarks follow Digital Policy Office’s advice to government departments to avoid installing AI agent
3-MIN READ3-MIN ListenVivian AuPublished: 8:02pm, 16 Mar 2026Hong Kong’s finance chief has likened the powerful AI agent OpenClaw to an efficient “digital employee,” saying it should not be dismissed but rather improved to address security risk concerns.
Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po’s remarks on Monday followed the Digital Policy Office’s recent advisory urging government departments to avoid installing OpenClaw or its variants due to security concerns.
“AI agent OpenClaw has awed the world; the convenience it offers is just like having a digital employee,” Chan said at a lunch with professionals.
“It is difficult to say whether there will be an impact [brought by OpenClaw] on the labour market. However, repetitive work may no longer be necessary in the future.”
Instead of saying “no” to the AI agent, Chan said OpenClaw’s security risks should be addressed with improvements.
Developed by Austrian software engineer Peter Steinberger, OpenClaw is an open-source AI agent framework that performs real-world tasks for users, much like a supercharged digital assistant.
