OpenClaw will continue as an open-source initiative.
OpenClaw will continue as an open-source initiative.
Sam Altman stated on X that Peter Steinberger, the creator of the popular AI agent OpenClaw, will be joining OpenAI. He mentioned that Steinberger possesses “numerous outstanding ideas” regarding how AI agents can communicate, adding “the future is set to be intensely multi-agent.” Furthermore, he indicated that this capability for collaboration among agents will “soon become essential to our product strategies.”
OpenClaw, formerly called Moltbot and Clawdbot, rapidly gained popularity earlier this year, becoming the favorite in the tech community. Its ascent was quick, albeit not devoid of challenges. Recently, researchers discovered over 400 malicious skills uploaded to ClawHub. It also introduced MoltBook, a social platform where AI agents could voice their concerns about humans, explore the nature of consciousness, and deliberate on the need for a secure space to share thoughts. Then, it was promptly overtaken by humans.
In a blog post on his site, Steinberger indicated that joining OpenAI would enable him to reach his vision of making AI agents accessible to everyone, without the complications of managing a business. He elaborated:
I can definitely envision OpenClaw evolving into a significant enterprise. However, that doesn’t excite me much. My true passion lies in building. I’ve already undergone the journey of establishing a company, investing 13 years of my life in it, and gaining invaluable lessons. My aim is to transform the world, not to create a massive corporation, and collaborating with OpenAI is the quickest route to making this happen for everyone.
For OpenAI, this marks a high-profile recruitment after numerous prominent figures were recruited by Meta or departed to start a competitor. It also experienced a public dispute with Elon Musk. The specifics of the agreement remain undisclosed. It’s uncertain what Steinberger’s salary will be or what his official position may be. However, Altman stated that OpenClaw will persist as an open-source project under a foundation backed by OpenAI.
Update February 15th: Added commentary from Peter Steinberger’s blog.
