OpenClaw developer Peter Steinberger joins OpenAI

Peter Steinberger, who created the AI ​​personal assistant now known as OpenClawjoined OpenAI.

Originally known as Clawdbot, then Moltbot, OpenClaw gained viral popularity in the past few weeks with its promise to be “AI that actually does things,” whether it’s managing your calendar, booking flights, or even joining a social network full of other AI agents. (The name was changed the first time after Anthropic threatened to take action because of his resemblance to Claude, then changed again because Steinberger liked the new name better.)

In blog post announcing his decision to join OpenAI, the Austrian developer said that even if he could turn OpenClaw into a big company, “It doesn’t really interest me.”

“What I want is to change the world, not to build a big company (,) and connecting with OpenAI is the fastest way to bring this to everyone,” said Steinberger.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wrote on X that Steinberger will “drive the next generation of agents.” As for OpenClaw, Altman said “it will remain fundamentally an open source project that OpenAI will continue to support”