Peter Steinberger, creator of the AI personal assistant OpenClaw, has joined OpenAI, bringing with him a technology that gained viral popularity for its ability to manage tasks and interact with other AI assistants.
OpenClaw, previously known as Clawdbot and Moltbot, is capable of managing calendars, booking flights, and operating within a social network of AI assistants, earning it the reputation as the “AI that actually does things.” The name changes were a result of legal threats from Anthropic due to the similarity of Clawdbot to “Claude,” and Steinberger’s later preference for OpenClaw.
In a blog post, Steinberger explained that joining OpenAI is the fastest way to bring the technology to everyone and aligns with his goal of changing the world rather than building a large company, which he described as “not really exciting.”
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced on X that Steinberger will “drive the next generation of personal agents.” Altman stated that OpenClaw will continue as an open source project housed in a foundation, with ongoing support from OpenAI. According to Altman, Steinberger is “a genius with a lot of amazing ideas about the future of very smart agents interacting with each other to do very useful things for people.”
Altman further expressed on X that this collaboration “will quickly become core” to OpenAI’s efforts, highlighting the significance of Steinberger’s contribution to the organization’s mission.
