- The trend spans ages and settings, from airports to schools.
There is a new sight at airports, offices, schools, and skating rinks: people walking around with their laptops cracked open. It is not carelessness. It is an AI agent still running inside. As tools like Claude Code and OpenAI Codex grow more popular, a new habit has taken hold among tech-savvy users.
They are holding their laptops open mid-commute, mid-meeting, and mid-workout, because closing the screen could mean losing progress on a task they have set in motion. The cracked-open laptop has gone from quirk to full-blown cultural meme.
Why Are People Walking Around With Open Laptops?
Many AI coding agents run locally or depend on an active WiFi connection, which means shutting a laptop lid can interrupt a running task. That one practical limitation is behind most of the open-laptop walking happening today.
According to a report by Business Insider, Raven.AI’s head of product, 39-year-old Daniel Chan, codes with AI while his two daughters, aged 12 and 10, practice ice skating. When their session ends and parents pour into the changing room, he follows, laptop still ajar so his agent keeps running. He props it on a shelf while untying his daughters’ skates.
ALSO READ: iPhone Ultra To Cost Around 2 Lakhs, And Still Come In Just Two Colours?
“I have to put it up on a shelf,” he said. “I’m untying my girls’ skates while looking back like: Is it done?”
Some parents step around him. Others lean in to peek at his screen. Most just stare. OpenAI even weighed in on the trend with a TikTok that winked at those familiar with the habit. Business Insider spoke to eight open-laptop walkers to understand what is really going on.
Who Exactly Is Doing This, And Where?
The habit cuts across age groups and settings. Alison Kaizer, a 39-year-old partner at Golden Ventures from Toronto, was the last person to board her flight because she was deep in a task with Claude. She walked onto the plane with her laptop open, only shutting it once seated.
“I looked over my shoulder to the person behind me and said, ‘Sorry, I’m using Claude,” Kaizer said. “They laughed, so there was an understanding immediately.”
In Bentonville, Arkansas, 15-year-old Arav Jain carries his open laptop between high school classrooms. He runs agents during class so he does not burn through his token allowance, and when the session ends before his task does, he walks the hallways with his computer open. His friends ask why he does not just pack it away.
“I’m like, ‘I got agents running,” Jain said. “I’ve got to keep shipping software.”
The style of carrying varies. Will Meinhardt, a 25-year-old head of sales, kept his laptop barely open on a walk to the gym after setting Claude Code to scan conference photos and load company data into a CRM. David Whipps, a 37-year-old product manager from Melbourne, folds his into what he calls a “little taco.” Rebecca Bultsma, a 44-year-old researcher from Calgary, tucks hers into her bag as a “clamshell,” sometimes leaving it cracked on her car’s passenger seat.
ALSO READ: Meta Connect 2026 Has A Date, & The Teaser Zuckerberg Posted Is Already Giving Things Away
“I think people think I’m whatever the equivalent of an iPad kid is for a middle-aged woman,” Bultsma said.
Former Apple engineer Tim Monzures, 40, does it on the San Francisco bus. He connects his laptop to his phone’s hotspot, keeps it open, and runs for the bus when he needs to get home to his family.
“I may look silly carrying a laptop, but I’m not the only one,” Monzures said. “I’ve seen others, so I feel good.”
