(Yicai) March 18 -- Baidu's health management platform will release an artificial intelligence assistant that will help doctors organize research materials, track paper progress, set follow-up reminders, and monitor new publications, according to an insider at the Chinese tech giant.

DoctorClaw is an OpenClaw designed for doctors, a worker involved in the internal testing of the AI assistant's mobile version told Yicai. The project is a key initiative within Baidu Health, with overall business oversight handled by General Manager Yang Minglu, the person added.

The new tool is "like providing each doctor with a 24/7 AI research assistant," the person pointed out.

Regarding data security, DoctorClaw sets up an independent container sandbox for each doctor to achieve physical isolation, the person noted, adding that all interactions are transmitted through encrypted channels, while it is also equipped with 24/7 auditing and monitoring, as well as sensitive information detection capabilities.

Compared to other AI tools for doctors, DoctorClaw is closer to the concept of an agent, said Li Bing, a senior health informatics professional. "The key difference is that smart agents like DoctorClaw can invoke other tools, which inherently positions it as an entry point to the ecosystem," Li added, noting that this aligns with Baidu Health's long-term strategy.

However, doctors spend 80 percent to 90 percent of their time within the hospital and primarily rely on internal information systems, so the value of DoctorClaw would significantly drop if it only operates on personal devices and cannot integrate with in-hospital systems, Li pointed out. Data security, the willingness of hospitals to transform, and their ability to pay remain core obstacles to embedding AI into the healthcare system, Li stressed.

DoctorClaw is designed with multiple modules, Yicai learned. However, details such as its personal computer version and other product forms, as well as whether it can be integrated into in-hospital systems, remain confidential.

Over the past year, Baidu Health launched the Super Workbench, which empowers doctors and healthcare professionals to engage in public health education and patient services, as well as the AI Steward, similar to Ant Group's Ant Afu, China's largest AI healthcare app by users.

Created by Austrian programmer Peter Steinberger, OpenClaw is a free, open-source AI agent framework that can automate a wide range of tasks for users. The software has garnered enthusiasm in and beyond the tech community since its release last year, with Nvidia's Jensen Huang describing it as the "most important software release probably ever."

However, the security risks behind OpenClaw have attracted the attention of Chinese regulators, with the National Computer Network Emergency Response Technical Team/Coordination Center and the National Internet Finance Association issuing relevant risk warnings, indicating that the tool may cause information leakage and even cause computers to be remotely controlled by hackers.

Editor: Martin Kadiev