Ben Guez “populates[his]DMs with potential international wives” thanks to automated scripts he set up using OpenClaw, Claude Code, and Instagram Trial Reels.
“I think this is crazy. The possibilities right now are insane,” Ghez, a content creator and startup founder, told TechCrunch. “I don’t know if everyone thinks it’s good, but I mean it’s working well.”
How does Guess woo so many women? First, we’ll use OpenClaw, an open source AI agent, to track World Cup match results. After each game, OpenClaw has Claude create and post a nearly identical Instagram “trial reel” using the same template. In the video, Guez stares out the train window with a dejected expression on her face, and the caption reads, “I can’t believe {COUNTRY} has passed away…If any {COUNTRY} girls need emotional support…my DMs are open.”
Guess has made the same post over a dozen times, except for the country name. However, trial reels are not displayed on the creator’s public page, so you won’t be able to tell by looking at their profile. Since launching this automation, Guez has received over 1 million views and 200 DMs within days. This volume is even more impressive considering that Ghez’s profile states that he only responds to DMs sent through the AI language learning app Canary. That means women will have to download his app.
You have to hand it to him: Guess really takes “work smarter, not harder” to another level. But if they realize he’s not actually interested in Tunisian football, won’t they feel played?
“They’re not angry, they’re impressed, saying, ‘Wow, you’re thinking outside the box, you’re a genius,'” Ghez said. “I think as long as you’re open about what you’re doing, you’ll be fine.”
TechCrunch couldn’t independently verify the actual reactions of these women, so we’ll have to take Guez’s word for it. But it’s safe to say that Guez isn’t the only one getting creative with the viral AI assistant. Guez’s method is a little more outlandish, but some see OpenClaw as a way to streamline the scheduling process.
Jeff Weisbein, founder of a technology PR firm, uses OpenClaw to find places to go on dates in different parts of South Florida.
“I meet women in different parts of South Florida, so I don’t know all the restaurants and activities,” Weisbein told TechCrunch. “Let the bot do all the research and create a document with links to why that date is chosen, no matter what type of date it is.”
When I explained to him about Gez’s Open Claw plan, he burst out laughing.
“I don’t seem to be getting the most out of OpenClaw,” he said. “But there are definitely areas where OpenClaw can be used to facilitate tasks that would otherwise have to be done manually.”
Like Guez, Weisbein doesn’t hide the fact that she uses AI tools to plan her dates (though it backfired when one woman said she “hated AI agents”). In some ways, asking OpenClaw where to go for happy hour in Fort Lauderdale isn’t all that different from Googling the coolest bars in your neighborhood, but he says he would draw the line at using AI to mediate an actual conversation with a woman.
“I’ve seen people use OpenClaw to create bots and swipe methods, but I wouldn’t do that. They say it’s a numbers game, but if that’s what you need…that seems like a pretty terrible method,” he said. “I don’t think we should rely on AI to communicate when we have a relationship with someone.”
People seem hesitant to let AI intervene once a real connection is made, but Kaylee, a woman who works for a technology company, said she was willing to use Claude to end the relationship if she decided to stop cheating.
“I started using Claude and created an automation that would create a ‘I don’t want to see you again’ message based on some key terms you enter about the date. Then it would automatically send the message at random times so you didn’t have to worry about when to send it,” she told TechCrunch. “Everything was going great until I mentioned this to someone I was on a date with and they ended up sending me an automated message asking if I was talking to Claude or Kaylee.”
Which is worse: being ghosted or being separated by an AI?
OpenClaw went viral this spring, shocking the tech world with its potential, but security advocates have continued to warn users about the dangers of giving an AI assistant unilateral control over all their accounts.
For Lazer Cohen, co-founder of security-focused OpenClaw alternative NanoClaw, outsourcing personal relationships to AI has significant privacy implications, even if his company touts date planning as a potential use case for X.
“Any time you give an agent access to personal information or accounts, human approval is required,” Cohen told TechCrunch. “We have all heard stories of OpenClaw creating dating profiles for people without their knowledge or consent, and of OpenClaw dating coaches being used as dating coaches by other groups as well.”
NanoClaw has permeated Cohen’s love life, but he’s using it in a slightly more wholesome way than churning out reels asking heartbroken soccer fans to slide into his DMs.
“My wife and I personally use Rosie, our NanoClaw assistant, to manage our five children’s schedules,” he said. “But ‘claws’ are widely used to help couples enter the parenting stage.”
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