OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger joins OpenAI

Peter Steinberger, who created the AI personal assistant now known as OpenClaw, has joined OpenAI. The Austrian developer previously developed it under the names Clawdbot and Moltbot. OpenClaw achieved viral popularity over the past few weeks with its promise to be the AI that actually does things, whether managing a calendar, booking flights, or joining a social network full of other AI assistants. The name changed the first time after Anthropic threatened legal action over its similarity to Claude, then changed again because Steinberger liked the new name better. In a blog post announcing his decision to join OpenAI, Steinberger said that while he might have been able to turn OpenClaw into a huge company, it is not really exciting for him. What he wants is to change the world, not build a large company, and teaming up with OpenAI is the fastest way to bring this to everyone, he said. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posted on X that in his new role, Steinberger will drive the next generation of personal agents. As for OpenClaw, Altman said it will live in a foundation as an open source project that OpenAI will continue to support.