Anthropic’s AI, Claude, just got a major upgrade: it can now use your computer to get things done. This move shows Anthropic’s effort to create an AI agent that can compete with the popular OpenClaw. On Monday, Anthropic announced that users can message Claude a task from their phone, and the AI agent will then complete it.
Once you tell Claude what to do, it can open apps on your computer, browse the internet, and even fill out spreadsheets. Anthropic demonstrated this in a video, showing a user who was running late for a meeting. The user asked Claude to export a pitch deck as a PDF and attach it to a meeting invite. The video showed Claude successfully doing this task.
This latest update from Anthropic highlights a growing trend among AI companies. They are all pushing to create “agents” that can automatically perform tasks for users at any time of day, without constant human input.
These “agentic capabilities” gained a lot of attention this year after OpenClaw went viral. OpenClaw connects to AI models from both OpenAI and Anthropic. Users can message OpenClaw through popular apps like WhatsApp or Telegram to get tasks done. Just like Anthropic’s new feature, OpenClaw runs directly on a user’s device, giving it access to local files.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang even told CNBC last week that OpenClaw is “definitely the next ChatGPT,” as tech companies race to build their own versions. Nvidia recently announced NemoClaw, an enterprise-grade version of OpenClaw. Even OpenAI itself hired Peter Steinberger, the creator of OpenClaw, last month. They aim “to drive the next generation of personal agents” with his help.
Anthropic did caution that Claude’s ability to use a computer “is still early compared to Claude’s ability to code or interact with text.” They also warned, “Claude can make mistakes, and while we continue to improve our safeguards, threats are constantly evolving.”
The company stressed that they built this computer-use feature “with safeguards that minimize risk.” Claude will always ask for your permission before it accesses any new apps on your computer.
Users can access this new capability through “Dispatch,” a feature Anthropic released last week in Claude Cowork. Dispatch allows users to have a continuous conversation with Claude from their phone or desktop and assign tasks to the agent.
