Building a smart home offers significant convenience by automating many everyday tasks and chores while keeping you and your family safe and secure. But with smart lighting, indoor and outdoor security cameras, video doorbells, smart door locks, smart appliances, and more, managing everything can quickly become overwhelming. A single central hub is, of course, necessary. But what if it could also do all the management for you? That’s where Switchbot comes in.
SwitchBot, a leading provider of AI-enabled embodied home robotics systems, just unveiled the AI Hub. SwitchBot calls it the world’s first local home AI agent, which makes sense with its OpenClaw support, helping you make your smart home management automation a breeze. There’s plenty to dive into. Here’s what you need to know about the SwitchBot AI Hub!
The SwitchBot AI Hub comes with native OpenClaw support
If you haven’t heard about OpenClaw yet, it’s an open-source AI assistant that’s taking the tech world by storm. Unlike other assistants, which are essentially chatbots, OpenClaw is designed to actually help with and manage real-world tasks; everything from managing your calendar, emails, messages, browsing, and so much more. And now, SwitchBot is bringing OpenClaw’s capabilities to your smart home via the AI Hub.
OpenClaw support isn’t available on the AI Hub just yet; that comes via an OTA update towards the end of February. But once everything is set up, you’ll be able to connect with a wide range of large-language AI models using an OpenClaw bot contact. This contact is available on more than 50 chat apps, including WhatsApp, iMessage, and Discord.
The key convenience of the SwitchBot AI Hub is that it’s an easy, affordable way to access OpenClaw support. You aren’t using up extra resources or putting your PC through its paces when using the cloud-based or downloaded version on your computer. You also don’t have to start from scratch as far as configurations go, so you won’t have to worry about lacking any technical know-how.
And it mitigates some security concerns about the level of system-level access OpenClaw requires to operate properly on your PC. With the AI Hub, you get a dedicated, secure space for AI operations that keeps your personal data safe and makes deployment faster and simpler.
Plus, towards the end of March, SwitchBot will integrate its Skills features with OpenClaw, giving you and the hub further control over your home automation devices. OpenClaw can access users’ smart home data across different smart home platforms with the right Skills, which, on its own, does not require AI Hub.
With SwitchBot Skills, OpenClaw can manage devices connected to the AI Hub and initiate home automation with devices across various platforms, including Home Assistant, Apple Home, and Google Home.
Whether you’re setting up commands for lighting, security cameras, and more, or simply want to know about the temperature and humidity levels in a room, you’ll be able to operate everything using natural language messages sent through the messaging apps you use every day. And SwitchBot will continue to expand the functions and capabilities of its Skills, with more features expected to be added following the initial release next month.
VLM (visual-language models) brings human-like understanding to your smart home
The SwitchBot AI Hub is the first edge hub to feature integrated VLM capabilities. You can pair it with SwitchBot’s range of smart home security products, such as its Pan/Tilt Cam Plus 2K/3K cameras and Smart Video Doorbell. And it also works with compatible RTSP cameras.
The key here is that the AI Hub, through OpenClaw, analyzes what’s happening around your home and provides a detailed summary of real-world events, rather than just detecting motion.
This analysis lets you take your smart automation a step further by setting up alerts for specific events and scenarios, making it perfect for security, family protection, and even pet care. For example, the system can recognize real-life events such as someone falling, your pet running out, or someone unknown approaching your house, and send you an alert instantly.
But it goes beyond simple reactions, which most security systems can do nowadays. Instead, the system will learn your routines and habits and make proactive suggestions. So if the Smart Video Doorbell detects someone familiar at your front door, you’ll not only get an alert, but you will also have the option to unlock the smart lock remotely. Or if you see your kids come in wearing muddy shoes, you can have your smart robot vacuum clean the floor. And again, everything happens through the convenience of everyday messaging apps.
The AI Hub also works as a helpful NVR system with Frigate integration. It supports up to eight cameras and features built-in face recognition along with a single-screen, whole-home monitoring system. All recordings are stored locally, so there are no cloud costs or subscriptions to worry about. Plus, you can expand the memory up to 16 TB with external drives, giving you plenty of space for weeks of footage, even with several high-resolution cameras.
Finding specific moments in recordings is a breeze thanks to the AI-powered video search, and daily home reports keep you informed about all the key activities. What’s especially great is that notifications are more accurate and context-aware, making sure you only get alerts that matter, helping you stay updated without any unnecessary disruptions.
Enjoy ultimate smart home automation with the SwitchBot AI Hub and OpenClaw
We’ve already touched upon a few of the things you can do with the AI Hub and OpenClaw, but the possibilities are truly endless.
When paired with OpenClaw, the SwitchBot AI Hub makes controlling your smart home feel natural and conversational. It allows you to interact with your home environment using everyday language, making the experience more intuitive and enjoyable. Think of this smart home hub as your friendly, all-in-one assistant that keeps everything connected effortlessly.
The AI Hub connects with more than 100 SwitchBot devices and supports up to 30 SwitchBot products via Matter bridging, making your setup super flexible. With its dual-band Wi-Fi and extended Bluetooth coverage, you can count on stable, reliable connections. Local automations kick in faster than waiting for cloud responses, making it a perfect central hub for almost any smart home.
Get started on your fully automated smart home journey now, with the SwitchBot AI Hub currently available for $259.99.
