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Carol Yang

China’s central bank has called for heightened cybersecurity awareness and caution in the use of artificial intelligence in the financial sector, adding to a chorus of warnings over security risks amid the nationwide buzz surrounding the OpenClaw AI agent.
At its annual technology conference in Beijing on Wednesday, the People’s Bank of China called for further efforts to “enhance the resilience of cybersecurity and data security”, according to a readout of the meeting posted on its website.
The central bank also said the deployment of AI in the financial sector should be managed in a “proactive yet prudent, safe and orderly” manner.
This year, according to the readout, the central bank’s technology agenda will focus on mitigating risks, tightening supervision and fostering high-quality development, while employing a policy approach focused on pre-empting extreme risks to continuously refine its regulatory framework.
The PBOC also called for deeper integration of banking and technology at the conference, aiming to fully unleash the potential of intelligent digital development.
That aligns with the central bank’s long-standing policy of encouraging technological empowerment across the banking sector, while ensuring that the transition remains safe and orderly.
The meeting brought together the heads of the PBOC’s departments and branches, along with its deputy governor, Zou Lan.


The PBOC’s stance on AI security is the latest in a string of alerts, following warnings from two other national agencies over the frenzy surrounding OpenClaw. Released in December, the open-source AI agent, which was developed in Austria, has taken the world by storm because of its ability to perform complex tasks on behalf of users.
The National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team/Coordination Centre of China warned on Tuesday that improper installation and use of the agent had led to severe security risks.
It said on its WeChat social media account that OpenClaw required high-level permissions, which heightened the risk of security breaches. Due to its “extremely fragile” default security configurations, attackers could easily gain full control of a system once a vulnerability was exploited, the centre said.
OpenClaw was also prone to “operational errors” in which the agent could misinterpret user commands and unintentionally delete critical information, including emails and important files, potentially causing significant data loss, it added.
That warning followed a similar notice issued last month by the National Vulnerability Database, a cybersecurity information centre run by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which warned consumers that improper handling of the agent could expose them to high-level security risks.
Both agencies urged early adopters of OpenClaw to carefully check permission configurations, disable unnecessary public access and fine-tune controls to mitigate risks.
Major Chinese cloud computing and technology firms are competing to offer easy or cheap access to OpenClaw. Some local governments are also offering subsidies to encourage the creation of applications and industries built around the agent.


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Artificial intelligence (AI)

Amid OpenClaw frenzy, China’s central bank adds to cybersecurity warnings

People queue at Baidu’s headquarters in Beijing on Wednesday to have OpenClaw installed on their laptops. Photo: AFP

Engineers (front) install OpenClaw on people’s laptops at Baidu’s headquarters in Beijing on Wednesday. Photo: AFP

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The advisory was developed in collaboration with AI agent providers, vulnerability platform operators and cybersecurity firms. Photo: Xinhua

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OpenClaw was launched last year and acquired by OpenAI in February, sparking global hype. Photo: NurPhoto via Getty Images

Last Friday, nearly 1,000 people lined up outside Tencent’s Shenzhen headquarters to install OpenClaw on their computers. Photo: Handout

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A man holds a placard featuring OpenClaw, an open-source AI assistant in Beijing. Photo: AFP

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People’s Bank of China says deployment of AI in financial sector should be ‘proactive yet prudent, safe and orderly’


People’s Bank of China says deployment of AI in financial sector should be ‘proactive yet prudent, safe and orderly’.


Amid OpenClaw frenzy, China’s central bank adds to cybersecurity warnings

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}People’s Bank of China says deployment of AI in financial sector should be ‘proactive yet prudent, safe and orderly’

People’s Bank of China says deployment of AI in financial sector should be ‘proactive yet prudent, safe and orderly’