In our latest episode of Royal GS, Martin and Julian Eyerer and Nikita Fahrenholz talk about OpenClaw. It’s about risks, but also tips on how to test the tool.
OpenClaw has brought a lot of discussion into the AI bubble in recent weeks. OpenClaw is an AI agent that is installed directly on the computer. Unlike a chatbot, the AI agent carries out tasks independently and acts fairly autonomously: it reads and writes emails, organizes the calendar and manages files. In the tech scene, OpenClaw went viral in just a few days – and inventor Peter Steinberger hired directly from OpenAI.
Audio player not available
In order to display embedded audio content, your consent, which can be revoked at any time (via the switch or via “Revocation tracking and cookies” at the bottom of the page), is required for the processing of personal data. Data can be transferred to third countries such as the USA (Art. 49 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR). By switching to “on” you agree. You can find further information in our data protection declaration.
Also Martin Eyerer (Ex-CEO Factory Berlin, entrepreneur, techno DJ) tried OpenClaw. Together with Nikita Fahrenholz (founder of Delivery Hero & Fahrengold) and the software developer Julian Eyerer he speaks in the latest episode of our podcast Royal GS about OpenClaw’s AI agents and the rapid development of AI tools.
Listen to the episode here: Spotify and Apple Podcast
OpenClaw is basically based on the principle of vibe coding: AI tools translate simple text into code. Sounds simple. But according to Julian Eyerer, it’s not quite that simple. Even with vibe coding, you have to understand how software is structurally structured and how databases have to be set up. Otherwise you just have “a nice surface” and nothing behind it.
Read too
Nevertheless, Vibe coding saves companies a lot of time and money. In the podcast, Fahrenholz says that in the early days of Lieferheld, 50 developers worked full-time. “Each one cost 6,000 euros,” he says. “With Vibe coding, you pay 10,000 euros for a minimum viable product and you’re done in a week,” says Julian Eyerer.
OpenClaw and risks
So OpenClaw has a certain appeal. On the one hand, people want to try out for themselves which annoying tasks the AI assistant can take on autonomously, but on the other hand, there are many discussions about the topic of security.
Because OpenClaw is a free open source tool. This means that the source code is publicly viewable under the license and can be changed. However, what raises security concerns is that the program has full access to the computer and the data there. In addition, so-called “prompt injections” are particularly problematic, as Julian Eyerer says. A new command or prompt is foisted on the AI via manipulated content – for example by email. This is why many companies prohibit employees from installing OpenClaw on work computers.
4 tips for using OpenClaw
But there are ways to test OpenClaw and minimize risks. Julian Eyerer has the following tips for this:
- It’s best to first get a new or old computer for OpenClaw so that OpenClaw doesn’t have direct access to all the data.
- According to Julian Eyerer, in order to gain initial experience with OpenClaw, it is advisable to host the program on your own server due to the security gaps. There are already providers for this.
- At the beginning, do not give the program permission to write emails or access to the bank account.
- Set OpenClaw limits: OpenClaw per se is free. However, if the AI agent interacts with other AI tools, it consumes tokens. Tokens are essentially produced text units – and they cost money, which in turn can quickly become expensive. According to Julian Eyerer, if you buy the AI agent a certain number of tokens and make them available to him, the costs can be controlled. If you don’t do this, the AI agent gets as many tokens as it needs to complete the tasks.
According to Julian Eyerer, when it comes to the question of which data you want to entrust to OpenClaw, one thought could help: “OpenClaw can behave like a three-year-old,” he says. It is important to find out a lot about the AI assistant and to handle it carefully in everyday life.
Read too
All episodes at a glance
Audio player not available
In order to display embedded audio content, your consent, which can be revoked at any time (via the switch or via “Revocation tracking and cookies” at the bottom of the page), is required for the processing of personal data. Data can be transferred to third countries such as the USA (Art. 49 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR). By switching to “on” you agree. You can find further information in our data protection declaration.