Over the past few months, one name has been hard to ignore in the AI — OpenClaw.
This project has gained explosive attention in a very short time: hundreds of thousands of stars, very high token usage, and rapid follow-up from almost all major companies.
I’ve never been this tired from keeping up with the latest version. The OpenClaw team seems to have no need for rest at all.
It’s rare to see an AI framework that uses the update date as its version number; the famous Lobster is one of them.
Five days, five version numbers — from v2026.4.29 to v2026.5.2, the open-source personal AI assistant OpenClaw has completed a round of intensive iterations on GitHub that can be described as “going all out”.
Memory system reconstruction, security hardening, multi-platform channel repair, video generation access, local voice inference… Almost every version is packed with heavyweight updates.
OpenClaw isn’t like an AI that gives you a recipe; it’s an AI that actually stands in the kitchen and cooks for you. It uses a Large-Scale Language Model (LLM) as its “brain” and messaging apps as its “hands and feet” to autonomously perform tasks on your PC.
Link to Full Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhXFjTADP58&t=322s
In April 2026, OpenAI announced a new large-scale language model.
The newly introduced “ GPT-5.5 “ is not merely an extension of previous models, but a model developed under a new design philosophy of AI that can actually perform real work.
It can perform a series of tasks such as research, analysis, document creation, and tool operation more autonomously, and generate text and code.
Previous LLMs had the drawback that “ they could produce highly accurate output, but detailed human instructions were necessary to complete the entire task .”
On the other hand, GPT-5.5 can understand the intent behind even complex and ambiguous instructions and proceed to process them while planning its own actions.
Furthermore, it improves response speed and token efficiency while maintaining high reasoning capabilities, significantly enhancing its usability in practical applications.
What's New About Openclaw?
OpenClaw has returned to its familiar daily update schedule. This update is completely different from the previous ones that “fixed a few minor bugs”.
Active Memory Plugin: The most compelling new feature — the optional Active Memory plugin inserts a dedicated memory sub-agent before the main reply, automatically retrieving relevant preferences, context, and history details from ongoing conversations.
It supports three context modes (message /recent /full), real-time /verbose checks, and custom prompt and thinking parameters. Users no longer need to say “remember this manually” — the AI will do the searching itself.
This is a bug fix-focused release that resolves the startup crash issues that occurred in multiple channels within the npm build environment: Telegram and all bundled channels (BlueBubbles, Lark, Google Chat, IRC, Matrix, Mattermost, Teams, Nextcloud Talk, Slack, Zalo) are now uniformly loaded with the setup/secret contract via a pre-packaged top-level sidecar.
Bundled plugin compatibility metadata is also aligned with the release version. and fixes have been made for HTTP(S) proxy and NO_PROXY support in Slack Socket Mode, issues with web scraping guards skipping DNS pinning policies under trusted environment proxies, and alignment of Agent layer update_plan availability and /exec default reporting behavior in OpenAI family runtime environments.
Plugin ecosystem: The manifest can now declare activation and setup descriptors, allowing third-party plugin developers to describe the authentication, pairing, and configuration steps required for the installation process without having to write hard-coded logic in the core code.
Enhanced video generation: Supports URL-only asset delivery (no need to load large files in memory), typed providerOptions and reference audio input, adaptive aspect ratio, and higher image input limits.
Note: There are more updates, but I couldn’t cover all of them in one article.
What makes GPT-5.5 Unique?
GPT-5.5 has significantly improved its ability to quickly transform these “drafts” into a viable starting point. It’s not just about being able to write code; it has a stable ability to grasp the “workflow and intentions” and propose a framework.
Each AI has its pros and cons, but as of now (April 27, 2026), GPT seems to produce code with a structure that is less prone to corruption.
Instead of “AI doing everything,” we should “increase the number of processes handled by AI.”
There’s an expectation that “if AI can write code, does that mean humans no longer need to look at it?”, but the reality in practice is different.
Correcting the code, making minor adjustments, and finally doing a visual check — this isn’t “double work,” it’s “normal procedure.”
By reducing the time spent writing from scratch, drastically speeding up the revision process, and allowing humans to dedicate time to truly important aspects such as “the validity of branching” and “consistency with business assumptions,” the goal is not to “let AI do everything,” but rather to “increase the number of processes that AI takes on.”
This perspective fits best with current practical work.
The value of GPT-5.5 lies in the “process” rather than the “answer.”
The biggest takeaway from this presentation is that the GPT-5.5 is a model that “takes over the entire intermediate process.”
What truly takes time in the field isn’t the answer itself, but the process of organising, breaking down, testing, and verifying to arrive at it.
The same is true for AI agent development; simply speeding up the initial structuring and drafting process dramatically changes the overall speed of the project.
Considering this, the value of GPT-5.5 might lie not in “providing amazing answers,” but in “being able to take on more intermediate steps to move the work forward.”
How to Deploy OpenClaw On VPS?
In my last video, many of you were having trouble deploying OpenCLAW locally. So I did some quick research and found a one-click deployment solution.
In this video, I’ll show you step by step how to deploy OpenCLAW to a VPS, so you can chat with your assistant from anywhere. I’ll also show you how to start adding skills to expand what your assistant can do.
Let’s start the deployment process. To get the best deal on your VPS, make sure to sign up using my link. You’ll get an extra 10% off any Hostinger plan.
Once you click the link, you’ll be taken to the OpenCLAW deployment page.
Click on Start, and you will join me on the cart page to select your VPS plan. You should see our coupon code applied automatically. If not, just enter GAO manually.
First, choose your billing period. You can select 1 month, 12 months, or 24 months. For the best price, I recommend the 12-month plan.
Next, scroll down and enable daily auto backups. OpenClaw can reconfigure its own server environment, so if something breaks, having backups will help you quickly restore everything.
After that, choose the server location with the lowest latency. Unless you specifically need another region, I recommend keeping the default option.
Finally, click the Continue button.
Press enter or click to view the
Now that you’ve signed up for your VPS, you’ll land on the OpenCLAW configuration page after your payment is processed. Just a quick heads-up: this page changes often, so your screen may look a little different from mine.
The first thing you’ll see is your OpenCLAW gateway token. Click the eye icon to reveal it, then copy it and save it somewhere safe, like a password manager.
Do not share this token with anyone.
In this video, we’ll use the OpenAI API. Go to your OpenAI account, copy your API key, and paste it into the OpenAI API Key section. This will let you use multiple models with OpenCLAW.
Next, scroll down a little more. You can also enter your phone number once everything is set up correctly.
After that, click the Next button, review all the files, and then click Deploy. The deployment process usually takes around 5 minutes to finish.
Inside the Hostinger dashboard, you’ll see that we are under Docker Manager and Projects. This is how you can return to this screen later if needed.
Your project will start deploying automatically. Once it finishes, you should see a green check mark, and the status should say Running. You’ll also see that your API key is connected and OpenCLAW is running correctly.
On this screen, there are a few useful options. The Gateway Token button lets you quickly copy your token again. To open your dashboard, click the Open link.
When the dashboard opens, paste your gateway token into the login page and click Login.
That should take you to the Chat tab by default. Before we continue, there’s one more thing we should check to make sure everything is connected properly.
Click on the Overview tab and check the Gateway Connected status.
Now that we’ve accessed the OpenCLAW dashboard and confirmed that everything is connected, let’s send our first message.
Go to the Chat tab and send a simple message like “Hello.” This will start the onboarding process. The goal here is to give your assistant a basic foundation.
You’ll notice that OpenCLAW starts asking you questions. Go ahead and answer them naturally. Once you finish answering all the questions, OpenCLAW will save everything into a file called Soul.md.
Your assistant will remember this information in future conversations, helping it respond in a more personalised and useful way.
Now, let’s set up a way to message your assistant outside of the web dashboard. OpenCLAW supports several messaging platforms, including WhatsApp, Discord, Slack, and more.
In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to connect to WhatsApp because it’s one of the easiest platforms to set up.
Let’s ask OpenCLAW:
“Can you help me set up WhatsApp?”
Once OpenCLAW generates the QR code, pick up your phone and scan it. Then link your device to make sure everything is set up correctly.
After that, go to the WhatsApp section and click on the channel. You should see the connection status page.
Make sure all the connection health checks show “Yes.” If everything says connected, your WhatsApp integration is working properly.
Once everything is set up, feel free to start asking questions. For example, I’ll ask, “What’s the weather like in New York right now?” and you’ll see the response generated by OpenCLAW.
Now let’s talk about skills. Skills are basically what teach your assistant how to do new things. These can include connecting to Google Workspace, managing your calendar, or searching the web.
If you want to learn more about skills, you can check out my article, where I explain them in more detail.
The easiest way to install skills is to ask your bot directly. It will guide you through each step.
You can install anything you want, as long as you clearly name the skill you want to add.
If you get lost at any point, feel free to ask follow-up questions.
Conclsuion :
OpenClaw is not a technological breakthrough, but it marks a technological tipping point. From edge-cloud collaboration and memory architecture to edge-side evolution and the emergence of swarm intelligence, these aspects expose current problems in intelligent agents, and each level offers significant research opportunities.
Currently, we are at a crucial juncture in the transition of intelligent agent technology from “demonstration feasibility” to “large-scale deployment.”
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