Peter Steinberger, the creator of the AI personal assistant now known as OpenClaw, has joined OpenAI. This assistant was previously known as Clawdbot and then Moltbot. It achieved viral popularity over the past few weeks by promising to be the “AI that actually does things,” such as managing calendars, booking flights, or joining a social network populated by other AI assistants.
The name changed first after Anthropic threatened legal action due to its similarity to Claude. It changed again because Steinberger simply preferred the new name.
In a blog post announcing his decision to join OpenAI, the Austrian developer explained that while he could have turned OpenClaw into a large company, he found that prospect unexciting. He stated that his goal is to change the world, not build a large company, and that teaming up with OpenAI is the fastest way to bring this vision to everyone.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posted that in his new role, Steinberger will drive the next generation of personal agents. Regarding OpenClaw itself, Altman said it will live on as an open source project within a foundation, which OpenAI will continue to support.