After the Regulatory Risk Warning, can you still buy "little dragon shrimp" related ETFs?

AI Agent OpenClaw Explodes in Popularity, Sparking Investment Frenzy in “Little Lobster” Concepts, with Focus on Large Models, Computing Power, Cloud Computing, and Chips.

Interviewees analyze that the “Little Lobster” concept has opened up investment imagination, potentially bringing opportunities in related ETFs (Exchange-Traded Funds). However, relevant authorities have recently issued safety risk alerts for OpenClaw.

As concept stocks become more volatile, should investors be more rational when deploying “Little Lobster” related investments?

Igniting Investment Fever

The “Lobster Farming” phenomenon has recently gained widespread attention. An AI agent, OpenClaw, has transformed large language models from simple “dialogue” tools into capable “execution” assistants for complex tasks, sparking a nationwide installation craze.

Since “Claw” translates to “pliers” in Chinese, and with a red lobster logo, netizens have nicknamed this AI agent “Little Lobster.” The deployment and training process is called “raising lobsters.”

Soon, “raising lobsters” swept through the investment community, quickly attracting attention from all sides. Some brokerages have compiled lists of related benefiting stocks, noting that the core driver is the rapid development of AI technology increasing demand for computing power.

What is the investment logic?

Research reports from Kaiyuan Securities suggest that the rapid popularity of OpenClaw could drive sustained growth in AI cloud computing power, significantly boosting demand for AI cloud IaaS. Core sectors such as AIDC (Artificial Intelligence Data Centers), computing power leasing, and CDN (Content Delivery Network) are expected to benefit.

Another brokerage report indicates that the main benefiting stocks in the OpenClaw ecosystem include large models, AI agents, big data, computing power, and cloud computing. Both Hong Kong and A-shares have relevant tech companies benefiting, mainly concentrated in the Hang Seng Tech Index, STAR Market, and ChiNext-related indices.

Song Weiwei, fund manager at China Europe Fund, believes that OpenClaw marks a paradigm shift in AI from “dialogue” to “execution.” In March, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stated at a tech conference that token consumption has surged 1,000 times compared to traditional chat modes. “This is the fundamental principle of investment chains; the underlying logic of benefiting directions stems from this multiplier effect.”

Song Weiwei states that OpenClaw is expected to benefit: on the large model side—companies providing cloud services for large models; on the computing power side—inference chips, LPU inference chips, cloud services, CDN, and computing power leasing companies; on the device side—hardware with unified memory, storage, and PC supply chains; on the software side—security software (cybersecurity, data security), Claw ecosystem connection software, and instant messaging software supporting OpenClaw.

ETF Performance Divergence

“The ‘Lobster Farming’ phenomenon has brought direct or indirect investment opportunities to related ETFs: first, computing power and data ETFs, such as big data and AI ETFs; second, information technology infrastructure ETFs, like Xinchuang and software ETFs; third, cloud computing and service ETFs; fourth, hardware and supporting component ETFs,” said Zhang Pengyuan, a researcher at PaiPaiWang Wealth, to the “International Financial News.”

The reporter notes that ETFs related to the “Little Lobster” concept are quite diverse. First, OpenClaw is an open-source AI project, with 10 ETFs tracking AI-related indices, mostly on the ChiNext AI ETF, with a few tracking CSI AI and CSI Shanghai-Hong Kong-Shenzhen AI 50 ETFs. The ChiNext AI ETFs have already surged once; as of March 13, the top one gained over 170% in a year.

Second, AI operation relies heavily on chips. There are 27 ETFs tracking different chip-related indices. The most tracked is the SSE STAR Market Chip Index, with 11 ETFs; six track the CSI Chip Industry Index; five track the SSE STAR Market Chip Design Theme Index; four track the GuoZhen Semiconductor Chip Index; and one tracks the China Semiconductor Chip Index. Excluding newly established ETFs in the past year, those tracking the SSE STAR Market Chip Index have performed best, with the top one rising over 50%.

Third, “raising lobsters” requires high computing power. There are nine ETFs tracking cloud computing indices, including the CSI Cloud Computing 50, CSI Shanghai-Hong Kong-Shenzhen Cloud Computing Industry, and CSI Cloud Computing & Big Data indices. The top-performing cloud computing ETF has nearly 70% growth.

Fourth, big data and software-related indices are close to the “Little Lobster” concept, but ETFs tracking these indices have performed modestly over the past year. For example, three ETFs track the CSI Big Data Industry, with an average increase of only 1.33%. Software-themed ETFs are numerous, including ChiNext Software ETF, Industrial Software ETF, Software Development ETF, CSI All-Index Software ETF, and CSI Software Services ETF. Excluding recent new products, seven software ETFs have experienced losses, with an average decline of -3.86%.

Additionally, in cross-border ETFs, those tracking the Hang Seng Tech Index are also related to the “Little Lobster” concept. Thirteen Hang Seng Tech ETFs have all declined to varying degrees over the past year.

Three Major Issues to Address

The explosive popularity of “Little Lobster” has opened new investment horizons. Zhang Pengyuan believes this pushes AI from content generation to task execution, marking a new stage of industrialization focused on efficiency and productivity improvement. “At the application level, industries like finance, healthcare, and manufacturing will see systemic implementations, restructuring workflows; at the enterprise service level, integrated, full-scenario enterprise AI agents will emerge; at the foundational level, domestic large model APIs and commercialization will accelerate, possibly opening overseas markets; at the hardware level, AI devices on the edge—important carriers of intelligent agents—will see new development opportunities.”

However, the “lobster craze” also carries significant risks.

On March 10, the National Internet Emergency Center issued a risk alert, highlighting four core risks of OpenClaw: prompt injection, misoperation, plugin poisoning, and security vulnerabilities. From March 11, many universities explicitly banned deploying this tool on campus networks or office devices, while Tencent and other companies launched cloud-isolated versions of the AI agent.

Independent financial commentator Gu Shiliang told reporters, “Raising lobsters” is not suitable for everyone. Currently, three major practical issues exist:

1. Security risks are prominent. The “lobster” AI agent may automatically perform authorized operations, risking user data leaks.

2. Continuous investment costs are high. As more individuals and small companies start AI ventures, the market will grow. But compared to well-funded enterprises, most ordinary people’s investments and returns in “raising lobsters” are far apart; investing more does not necessarily yield proportional results.

3. Market rules behind the trend. Places with more people do not always make money. The normal pattern is “seven losses, two break-even, one profit.” Although this wave is nationwide, most people blindly following the trend may not profit.

Reporter: Xia Yuechao

Copyeditor: Chen Sai