Easy money {{ FIRSTNAME }}? A new site lets humans list themselves for bots to hire. No jokes. AI agents can’t do things in the real world. So they want to hire you to do it for them, and they’ll pay you in stablecoins. What? 👨🏻💼
In This Open Letter
Lobster Time: The AI assistant of your dreams.
Local: Cape Town’s e-buses & Makro pre-loved.
Global: The ad that sent Altman into a tantrum.
Tech Jobs: New roles at Enerweb, Nedbank & more.
Market Watch: The top stocks & markets this week.
Best in tech, backed by 300+ years of legacy!
We’re genuinely thrilled to tell you that Blaauwklippen Wine Estate is now our official wine sponsor at all our events for 2026.
We mean, they’re like SA’s oldest company, making award-winning wine since 1682. And they’re touring SA with us to fuel big conversations about building local and global businesses, from Cape Town to Joburg and beyond.
Starting, of course, with our Stellenbosch event on 5 March 👇
TRENDING NOW
Taking AI From The Cloud (And Into Your Life)
Ever since ChatGPT went public in 2022 (kickstarting today’s AI wonderland, where 70% of SA uses AI chatbots), we’ve all been secretly dreaming of a personal, offline AI assistant that could manage/take over your life on autopilot
Years ago, we wrote about a LAM (Large Action Model) device called the Rabbit R1 that tried to do just that. But it was limited and never hit mainstream.
Then came agentic AI, with various agents able to do some of what we wanted, but being tied to the cloud meant performance lag, gate-keeping and the obvious security concerns – do I really want to give my credit card to Big Tech?
That’s why we’ve been dropping hints about Openclaw AI. And it’s about time we explained it properly…
Meet your digital twin
Launched as Clawdbot late last year, going viral on X mid-Jan, rebranding to Moltbot on 27 Jan and now finally settled as Openclaw AI, it’s a software-only personal assistant that runs on your device (Windows, Mac, Linux, even Raspberry Pi), with deep system access.
That means it can basically act as the virtual you.
Where a chatbot can only act on your prompts and cloud-based agents have limits built in (one of which is it lives on the cloud), Openclaw AI has access to everything you allow on the computer you run it, so it can impersonate you, buy things for you, change your calendar, use your emails, prompt your chatbot – basically anything you do with your device.
Obviously, it's pretty dangerous: One X user famously gave the bot his credit card, and it spent almost R48k on online courses before he could stop it. But it’s not on the cloud, it’s a single instance on your device (like Iron Man’s Jarvis), so it’s all about how responsible you are with it.
Jason almost went all in on that Hormozi life
Basically, it's the power we wanted. You can control it via text or voice notes on WhatsApp: OpenClaw uses a "Linked Devices" flow similar to WhatsApp Web to connect to your account. Some people also use Discord, Telegram, email or a simple web terminal.
And some local founders are already doing some amazing things with it.
Putting it to good use
One linked it to their email, calendar and browser to just ask “Set up a meeting with X from company Y” and the bot finds their email, checks calendars for slots, books a table at an eatery, the works.
Another uses it to create docs or emails on the fly, like an agenda for the next board meeting via voice note.
You can also give it access to Xero accounting software, and it can create invoices or accounting reports while you’re at the gym.
How have you used Openclaw? Are you keen to try it all?
Hit reply to this email and let us know.
We’re watching this space…
PS. There are several security concerns with Openclaw, and remember it is open-source software. So if you use it, please proceed with caution.
Have your say…
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IN SHORT
Easing you into the weekend…
🚍 Get On The (e)Bus. The City of Cape Town and UCT will be conducting research in the coming months, testing and understanding the operational impact of e-buses before the electric bus fleet is rolled out as part of the MyCiTi bus fleet. The research is funded in part by a grant from the Urban Electric Mobility Initiative (UEMI). Interesting…
🧠 Microsoft’s AI Wants to Pay You (Finally). Microsoft just launched a content marketplace for publishers, where any of their AI that uses your content will pay you for it. Big US names are already testing it, but we want to know when SA publishers get access. See everything we know about Microsoft’s publisher content marketplace so far.
😡 Anthropic Ads Anger Altman. Sam Altman got properly touched on his studio by Anthropic’s Super Bowl ads. And while his post on X admitted the ads were funny, the OpenAI CEO posted a short story, calling Anthropic “dishonest” and “authoritarian”. Know what else doesn't have a sense of humour?
📱 Makro’s Tech Reseller Play. Makro has just launched Makro Restored, an online store dedicated to selling refurbished pre-owned tech products includes smartphones, tablets, laptops, smartwatches, desktops, speakers, headphones and gaming consoles. Makro uses carefully vetted sellers to ensure each device is lekker. Lekker man.
📊 Brand Clarity Secured. Stellenbosch’s Sonic Fund and Sonic Trader needed to serve very different audiences without brand dilution. So DoubleShift built two distinct brand systems, giving both the clarity to scale globally with sharper investor and customer traction.*
* From our partners. Find all the best service providers for your business in our Founder Stack.
WHAT YOU SAID
Breakaway time…
Yesterday, we showed you AirhostSwap’s organising Airbnb holiday swaps, asking what you\d prefer if your Airbnb was standing unbooked. Most want to fill it…
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 💰 A last-minute 50% discount booking. (44%)
🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ 🧮 Banking "HostPoints" for my own future holiday. (30%)
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 😵 Keeping it empty (I need the break from guests). (15%)
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🍷 Hosting poker night/Wine club with the boys/girls. (4%)
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🔈 Hmm, I have something else in mind (tell us). (7%)
Your 2 cents…
“I'd prefer if rent in Cape Town were more affordable rather than encouraging this out-of-hand and unsustainable Airbnb practice.”
Can’t argue there, Candid. We’ve been hoping the city would more actively manage Airbnb-to-citizen ratios for a while. 🇿🇦
READY FOR A MOVE?
Jobs in Tech
⚡ Lead Systems Analyst @ Enerweb
🧑⚖️ Intermediate C# Software Engineer @ LexisNexis Shared Services
🏦 Senior Quality Assurance Engineer @ Nedbank
🧑💻 Senior Full-Stack Engineer @ Acrontum
☁️ Azure BI Data Support Engineer @ CyberPro Consulting
🚢 Tech Lead - Frontend Focus @ NYSHEX
OfferZen proudly sponsors Jobs in Tech
The name in SA tech employment for over a decade, OfferZen needs no introduction, and their ability to get you placed is only as legendary as the time, energy and money they save employers in finding top skills.
MARKET WATCH
All this week’s big movers and shakers
— Fri 30 Jan to Thurs 5 Feb 2026
Top 5 JSE stocks: Thinly traded small-caps and turnaround plays surged as speculative buying dominated the local market, driving sharp percentage gains off low base prices:
NUMERAL: +122.22%
TELEMASTR: +116.48%
VISUAL: +33.33%
ZEDER: +16.24%
MC MINING: +11.71%
Gold: Rose marginally by +0.88% from R78 518.98 last week to R79 207.36 this week after sharp volatility, as early profit-taking was offset by renewed safe-haven demand later in the week.
Bitcoin: Slumped by –15.77% from R1 359 479 last week to R1 145 184 this week as aggressive risk-off selling hit crypto markets, extending a sharp pullback after January’s rally and triggering widespread liquidations.
Ethereum: Crashed by –22.07% from R43 682.6 last week to R34 043.1 this week as higher-beta crypto assets bore the brunt of forced liquidations during an aggressive risk-off sell-off across digital markets.
AROUND THE WEB
Have some fun…
📸 Tool to Try: PhotoMentor will critique your photos like a real instructor.
🏢 That’s Interesting: In 2024, cops found a 34-year-old woman living inside a big grocery store’s rooftop signage — she had a bed, desk, computer and coffee maker, and had been living there for over a year.
🦌 Next Level: Watch this hunter give a deer CPR to save its life.
🧘 Hack: Science-backed techniques to calm and relax your body faster.
⚡ Wow Site: PocketEngineer gives you electronics and engineering calculators and explanations with no ads, no signup.
