OpenClaw Frenzy Fades: Doorstep Uninstallation Services Emerge as First Adopters Regret

Less than a week after the AI agent OpenClaw went viral across China, a new business — "doorstep OpenClaw uninstallation for only 299 yuan (US$43.56)" — has appeared on major trading platforms, as the first batch of disillusioned users rush to remove the software, Cailian Press reported yesterday.

OpenClaw recently surged in popularity due to its powerful capabilities, including taking over operating systems, automatically handling emails, writing code, and even managing schedules, igniting a wave of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) across the Internet.

Many people paid high fees to install OpenClaw, and long queues even formed outside Tencent Building in Shenzhen as users waited for installation assistance recently. Local governments in Shenzhen's Longgang District, Foshan, Changshu, Wuxi, Hefei and other cities have successively introduced policies to encourage the adoption of "Crayfish" — the Chinese nickname for OpenClaw.

However, the dream of owning a tireless digital worker is rapidly souring for many early adopters, who are now being called the "first batch of crayfish victims."

The primary driver of this exodus is financial. Unlike subscription-based chatbots, OpenClaw, as an autonomous agent, consumes massive amounts of tokens — the currency of AI data processing. To execute tasks, it must constantly browse webpages, call external tools, and engage in multi-step interactions with large language models.

This process can result in hundreds of times more token consumption than standard AI models. One Shenzhen-based programmer shared his harrowing experience on social media: Just three days after installing OpenClaw, he woke up to a 12,000-yuan token bill after his API key was stolen and abused.

Other users reported that running a single complex program debugging task could burn through tens of thousands of yuan in a single day. The phrase "A monthly salary of 20,000 yuan can't afford to raise a crayfish" has begun circulating online, highlighting the unsustainable costs for average users.

Beyond the financial drain, severe security flaws are fueling the uninstall trend. The National Internet Emergency Center has issued urgent warnings about OpenClaw's fragile default security configurations, which can leave systems wide open to attacks.

According to reports, scans on the Shodan platform have revealed hundreds of thousands of OpenClaw instances exposed directly to the public Internet with no authentication at all.

Compounding the problem, counterfeit installation packages circulating on GitHub and roughly 12 percent of the skills available on the ClawHub plug-in market have been found to contain malicious code designed to steal users' SSH keys and browser passwords.

Major tech firms, including Samsung and SK, have reportedly banned OpenClaw on office devices, following incidents where user emails were deleted en masse despite safety commands.

In a perfect display of market irony, the very platforms that were bustling with "installation services" just days ago are now seeing a surge in "uninstall" listings. Advertisements now promise "professional remote/door-to-door uninstallation, safe and clean, no residual files" for a "limited-time special price of 299 yuan."

Unlike the complex and expensive installation process, which could cost upwards of 500 yuan, the uninstall service is cheaper and simpler. Netizens have wryly commented that vendors have managed to "eat the crayfish twice" — first by selling installations, and now by handling removals.

This explosive cycle of hype and regret has caught the attention of regulators. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has issued explicit warnings about the risk of system permissions being hijacked due to improper OpenClaw configurations. Experts from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) have urged both individual and institutional users to exercise extreme caution, noting that even the latest security patches cannot eliminate all risks.

As "Crayfish Uninstall Guides" circulate online, analysts suggest the market is undergoing a necessary correction. While OpenClaw represents a significant leap forward for AI agents, its rapid adoption has been largely driven by anxiety rather than practical need. The core question now facing users is whether they want a trendy digital novelty or a truly secure, controllable, and affordable tool.