Tuya launches TuyaClaw, an AI agent that lets you control your home devices
Tuya just launched an AI agent that can control your smart home devices and run computer tasks from a single command. The company behind it has a complicated history with device security.
Tuya Smart, the IoT platform behind hundreds of millions of connected devices worldwide, launched TuyaClaw today, an AI agent built on the OpenClaw architecture that can execute computer tasks and control physical smart home devices from a single prompt.
- What it does: Tell it to prepare a 3 PM presentation and it generates the deck, adjusts your room lighting, sets the temperature, and turns on the projector, all at once.
TuyaClaw is Tuya’s second AI product in three months, following Hey Tuya, a proactive life assistant launched on Christmas Day 2025. Where Hey Tuya learns routines and acts on them, TuyaClaw executes tasks on demand, across both your computer and your physical devices.
- The company: Publicly traded, over $1 billion in cash, zero debt. Pricing for TuyaClaw has not been disclosed.
- The specs: Access to 7 large language models including ChatGPT and Gemini, 3,200 pre-built automations, and integration with over 3,000 device categories.
- Local or cloud: An on-device version keeps data local. A cloud version runs 24/7 without consuming local resources.
The launch comes with context worth reading before handing an AI agent the keys to your home. In 2021, independent cybersecurity firm Dark Cubed found that every Tuya-powered device tested was communicating with servers in China without user permission, failed basic security checks, and exposed private images to anyone on the same network.
- The company’s response: Tuya built out regional data centers and claims data stays local. Dark Cubed’s findings directly contradict that claim.
- The new addition: Today’s announcement includes a “Skill Security Guardian” platform. No independent audit of it exists yet.
- The legal reality: As Klon Kitchen of the American Enterprise Institute noted, “Tuya doesn’t have to be incompetent or malicious to be a threat, it only needs to be compliant with Chinese law.” China’s Data Security Law requires companies to hand data over to the government upon request.
For users comfortable with that, TuyaClaw offers something genuinely useful. For those who are not, an open-source OpenClaw setup with a self-hosted model sidesteps the question entirely.
The Bottom Line: Giving an AI agent control over your home is a meaningful step beyond giving it access to your browser. Tuya is asking users to take that step while the gap between its privacy claims and what independent researchers actually found remains unresolved.
Source: PR Newswire
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