Observation | Don't Be Led by the "Shrimp Farming Boom"

At the beginning of the Year of the Horse, people have just experienced the “Hundred Flowers Bloom” robot show on the Spring Festival Gala, and the trend of “raising lobsters” around AI intelligent agents OpenClaw is now emerging across various regions.

Unlike previous tech hotspots, this “raising lobsters” phenomenon has sparked a “policy race” among cities, with each city rolling out subsidy policies for “raising lobsters,” with the highest amounts reaching hundreds of millions of yuan. This high-profile and swift policy response has also raised questions: Are these “real money” terms just old wine in new bottles of past support measures? Were these policies developed after careful research? Are the rapid issuance of documents driven by hype and flow, or are they grounded in long-term strategic stability?

It must be acknowledged that behind this phenomenon is the genuine enthusiasm and momentum of local governments actively embracing new technologies. In recent years, with the explosive growth of industry IPs like Hangzhou’s “Six Little Dragons,” city competition has increasingly centered around technological discourse power. No city wants to fall behind in the AI wave. This eagerness and proactive attitude, driven by the desire for talent and fear of missing out on the era’s opportunities, is precisely the internal driving force that keeps China’s economy vibrant.

However, attitude and boldness cannot replace scientific decision-making. Beneath the hype, various concerns lurk. First, the convergence and集中出台的政策可能会加剧社会和企业的技术焦虑，助长“不‘养虾’就落伍”的盲目心态。其次，“龙虾”仅是AI发展长河中涌现的一朵浪花，其技术成熟度、安全性和长期生态位均有待观察。因此，OpenClaw能否承载起地方产业升级的厚望，需要打一个问号。

更值得深思的是，这种“运动式”扶持，可能会削弱地方构建区域持久创新力的战略定力。历史上一哄而上的补贴曾催生过“骗补”、资源错配等乱象，前车之鉴历历在目。政策红利过后，留下的是坚实的产业基础，还是一地鸡毛？

今天，笔者要为地方政府拥抱新技术的热情点赞，但更呼唤能滋养多元创新、宽容失败的制度土壤。理想的产业政策，除了能为OpenClaw等具体创新提供试错空间外，也更注重长期的基础研究投入、创新生态培育和人才体系建设等。唯有将追赶热点的急切，转化为培育创新土壤的耐心，才能在AI的宏大叙事中，不仅抓住一两只“龙虾”，更能孕育出持续引领时代的“蓝海”。