Former OpenAI executive Zack Kass says Chinese enterprises lag behind US peers in AI adoption due to rigid corporate hierarchies, despite tech-savvy consumers. In a recent interview with the South China Morning Post, he described China as having a 'techno-centric consumer' and the US a 'techno-centric enterprise'. Kass said this cultural divergence explains the frenzy around OpenClaw in China, even as it struggles for scale in the US.
Zack Kass worked at OpenAI from 2021 to 2023, during which the company launched its groundbreaking chatbot ChatGPT in November 2022. He now runs his own consultancy.
Kass told the South China Morning Post that China has a very 'techno-centric consumer', while the US has a 'techno-centric enterprise'. 'The American consumer is far more cynical about technology and big tech,' he said, citing anxieties over social media's impact on children and declining public trust.
This cultural divergence, Kass said, helps explain the frenzy surrounding OpenClaw in China, even as it struggles to achieve the same scale and popularity in the US. Rigid corporate hierarchies hold back Chinese enterprises in AI adoption.
Keywords mentioned include Chinese enterprises, Apple, OpenClaw, AI agents, Silicon Valley, ChatGPT, Tencent, US, OpenAI, and the US market, but the interview focused on cultural contrasts.
