The internal Microsoft document, called \u201cClawPilot: Overview and Plan with Project Lobster,\u201d seen by 404 Media has a subheading called \u201cClawPilot Overall Plan,\u201d which notes \u201cthree phases\u201d to its launch plan. The first phase is \u201cMake people addicted.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cContinue shipping the standalone ClawPilot experience. Pilot the UX, grow the user base, and build the skill and tool ecosystem that makes people depend on it daily. This is already happening organically,\u201d the document says. Omar Shahine, the Microsoft executive leading the project, adds that in its pilot with Microsoft employees, they have seen \u201cDaily Usage with High Retention and intensity of usage (chats, queries, workflows, skills).\u201d The additional phases of the plan involve connecting ClawPilot to other AI tools and eventually adding new features.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A Microsoft employee familiar with ClawPilot told 404 Media that the addiction language was \u201cvery troubling.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re seeing more and more addiction happening with AI chatbots and agents and overall addiction to me is something no product should be making a part of its build strategy,\u201d they said. \u201cIt feels like one of those \u2018saying the quiet part out loud\u2019 moments in the document.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another employee said that, at this point, they feel \u201cisn\u2019t the end goal of all software made by all major technology companies to be addicting? Luckily for us, Microsoft is pretty bad at making addicting products compared to some of the other big companies.\u201d 404 Media granted Microsoft employees anonymity to talk about private internal products and documents.<\/p>\n
The project is being driven by Shahine, a longtime Microsoft executive who wrote on his personal blog<\/a> and LinkedIn in April that he created a personal AI assistant called Lobster using OpenClaw, the viral open source AI agent tool. According to his blog, Shahine presented his \u201cLobster\u201d AI assistant to an internal Microsoft AI accelerator program and was told to turn it into a real product for Microsoft.\u00a0<\/p>\n The document seen by 404 Media lists Shahine and another executive, Jakob Werner, as its authors. The document itself, however, notes that it was \u201cco-created turn-by-turn with AI. Human verified every sentence.\u201d The document describes ClawPilot as \u201ca desktop personal assistant primarily built for knowledge workers: people in finance, legal, operations, HR, and other roles who have never heard of OpenClaw and will never open a terminal. It is a macOS and Windows app that sits alongside you, learns how you work, and acts on your behalf. It manages your calendar, triages your inbox, files expenses, prepares meetings, and runs recurring workflows.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The document states that more than 1,000 employees at Microsoft are using it, including CEO Satya Nadella and that \u201cClawPilot has organically grown into one of the most requested internal tools at Microsoft. No formal announcement, no marketing, no org-wide push.\u201d Shahine has posted several<\/a> times on his personal blog and LinkedIn about ClawPilot, including screenshots of the tool<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Another Microsoft internal document about ClawPilot explains that it both enhances what employees are doing and acts as an assistant they can hand work to. \u201cIt is not a smarter chatbot. IT takes actions on a real desktop, and it keeps working when you are not watching,\u201d the document says.\u00a0<\/p>\n When 404 Media asked Microsoft for comment about the addiction language on its internal documentation, we were sent a blog post by Shahine announcing Scout<\/a> published Tuesday.<\/p>\n Nadella previously said at a conference that he loves OpenClaw<\/a>, but that Microsoft could not ever integrate OpenClaw<\/a> into Microsoft products: \u201cI can\u2019t launch OpenClaw as Microsoft. I mean, it, you know, it just wouldn\u2019t work. I don\u2019t have permission to do that because that would be considered Microsoft launching a virus. I mean, that\u2019s just not a thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Like OpenClaw itself, ClawPilot requires access to important accounts and files in order to function. The document notes that \u201csecurity and compliance\u201d are important things to figure out moving forward.<\/p>\n Microsoft\u2019s AI products have been a bit of a mixed bag. Microsoft\u2019s partnership with OpenAI gave it a huge head start in the AI space, and its coding tool, Copilot, has been very popular but has been surpassed by Claude Code. The company has tried to push AI into many of its products, and users have revolted over AI tools integrated into Windows.\u00a0<\/p>\n About the author<\/p>\n Jason is a cofounder of 404 Media. He was previously the editor-in-chief of Motherboard. He loves the Freedom of Information Act and surfing.<\/p>\n About the author<\/p>\n Emanuel Maiberg is interested in little known communities and processes that shape technology, troublemakers, and petty beefs. Email him at emanuel@404media.co\n<\/p>\n![\"Jason](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/404-jason-01-copy.jpeg\")
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![\"Emanuel](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/headshot-1.jpg\")
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