3 Before 9: March 23, 2026

## 1. Tencent Plugs OpenClaw AI Agent Directly Into WeChat Tencent launched a tool called ClawBot on Sunday that embeds the open-source OpenClaw AI agent inside WeChat as a contact, giving the app's one billion-plus monthly users a way to delegate tasks such as file transfers, email and scheduling through the messaging interface. The move follows Tencent's release earlier this month of its own agent suite - QClaw for consumers, Lighthouse for developers and WorkBuddy for enterprises - and comes as nearly 1,000 people queued outside the company's Shenzhen headquarters to have engineers help them install OpenClaw on their laptops. Chinese authorities have already restricted state-run enterprises and government agencies from running OpenClaw on office machines over security concerns, but consumer enthusiasm shows no sign of slowing. Why it matters: China's tech giants are in an all-out race to own the AI agent layer, and Tencent just turned WeChat - the default interface for commerce, payments and daily communication across Asia - into a launchpad. For enterprise buyers and developers in Southeast Asia who rely heavily on WeChat for cross-border business, this integration signals that agentic AI will arrive through existing super-apps rather than standalone products, reshaping how companies across the region plan their AI adoption strategies. Read more: [https://www.chinatechnews.com/2026/03/23/117832-tencent-integrates-wechat-with-openclaw-ai-agent-amid-china-tech-battle](https://www.chinatechnews.com/2026/03/23/117832-tencent-integrates-wechat-with-openclaw-ai-agent-amid-china-tech-battle)^ ## 2. Alibaba Sets $100 Billion Cloud and AI Revenue Target as Profits Plunge 67% Alibaba Group reported a 67 per cent drop in quarterly profit to 16.3 billion yuan ($2.4 billion), even as its cloud division posted 36 per cent revenue growth to 43.3 billion yuan ($6.2 billion). CEO Eddie Wu responded by setting a five-year target of $100 billion in annual cloud and AI revenue - roughly five times current levels - requiring sustained growth of at least 35 per cent a year. The company has also raised cloud and storage prices by up to 34 per cent and consolidated multiple AI teams under a new Alibaba Token Hub to accelerate commercialisation of its Qwen models, which now reach over 300 million monthly active users. Why it matters: Alibaba's bet-the-company pivot from e-commerce to AI infrastructure directly affects every enterprise in the Asia-Pacific that runs on Alibaba Cloud - particularly in Southeast Asia, where it operates data centres in Singapore, Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur. If the price hikes stick, regional cloud budgets will need to adjust. If the growth target is met, Alibaba becomes a hyperscaler on par with AWS and Azure in the region, giving APAC buyers a genuine third option with lower-latency local infrastructure. Read more: [https://finance.yahoo.com/news/alibaba-67-profit-plunge-shows-100308190.html](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/alibaba-67-profit-plunge-shows-100308190.html)^ ## 3. SoftBank Breaks Ground on $33 Billion Gas-Powered AI Data Centre in Ohio SoftBank subsidiary SB Energy has begun construction on a 10-gigawatt data centre campus at the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant site in Pike County, Ohio, backed by 9.2 gigawatts of new natural gas generation costing $33.3 billion. A further $4.2 billion will go toward transmission upgrades in partnership with AEP Ohio. The project is the first major tranche of Japan's $550 billion US investment commitment negotiated under the Trump administration's tariff agreement, with CEO Masayoshi Son describing it as essential infrastructure for AI to "transform every industry." Why it matters: This is Japan's largest single AI infrastructure investment and a concrete signal that Tokyo-linked capital is now shaping global AI compute capacity. For Asian enterprises evaluating where to train and run large models, the Ohio campus adds significant US-based capacity underwritten by Japanese capital - potentially offering preferential terms for SoftBank portfolio companies across Asia. It also raises questions about whether similar megaprojects will follow in the region itself, given that Southeast Asia's own data centre pipeline continues to face power supply constraints. Read more: [https://asia.nikkei.com/business/softbank/softbank-plans-9-gw-of-gas-fired-electricity-in-us-to-power-data-centers](https://asia.nikkei.com/business/softbank/softbank-plans-9-gw-of-gas-fired-electricity-in-us-to-power-data-centers)^