Microsoft is experimenting with ways to incorporate functionality similar to OpenClaw into its current Microsoft 365 Copilot application. With improved security controls over the infamously dangerous open-source OpenClaw agent, the company acknowledged to The Information that the new features will be targeted at enterprise clients.
OpenClaw is a program that operates locally on a user’s computer and can generate agents to carry out activities on the user’s behalf. The endeavor would join several other agentic technologies that Microsoft has unveiled in recent months if it were to develop its own version of a Claw, or a locally operating agent.
For example, Microsoft unveiled Copilot Cowork in March. It is intended to perform tasks within Microsoft 365 apps rather than merely offering conversation or search results in a different work pane. Cowork’s “Work IQ” technology, an intelligence layer that attempts to customize Cowork for the user across Microsoft 365 apps, powers the company.
After partnering with the AI lab late last year, Microsoft also hired Claude from Anthropic to power Cowork. Claude has been introduced by Microsoft as a Cowork option. (Although OpenClaw is compatible with several models, many users of the open-source project still prefer the Claude model.) Cowork, however, operates in the cloud rather than on local hardware.
Another task-completion agent, Copilot Tasks, was also provided by Microsoft in preview form in February. According to the marketing materials, this agent should be able to handle a variety of duties, from scheduling appointments and trips (tasks outside of Microsoft’s Office suite of products) to sorting email (a task similar to M365). But this also operates in the cloud.
Whether this Claw would be local or just incorporate some of the other characteristics that OpenClaw supporters adore is still unknown. One of the primary characteristics of the agent, according to Microsoft, is that it would effectively be a 365 Copilot version that is constantly operational and capable of acting at any moment. An agent that can finish multi-step activities over extended periods of time is the concept.
The Mac Mini has been the preferred platform for OpenClaw users, even though the open source project can run on Windows computers. The tiny, reasonably priced, cube-shaped Mac Mini PCs have unexpectedly become extremely popular. Therefore, Microsoft may want its own version for a variety of reasons other than security.
According to The Verge, the corporation plans to demonstrate this new Claw (or an improved version of one of its current Claw-like products) at its June Microsoft Build conference.
We’ve questioned Microsoft about how the new Claw agent fits in with these other agents, and we’ll update the article as soon as we hear back.