Peter Steinberger, the visionary creator behind the acclaimed AI personal assistant now known as OpenClaw, has officially joined OpenAI.
Previously identified as Clawdbot and subsequently Moltbot, OpenClaw achieved widespread viral popularity in recent weeks. It distinguished itself with the ambitious promise to be the "AI that actually does things," demonstrating capabilities such as managing calendars, booking flights, and even engaging within a social network dedicated to other AI assistants. The initial name change was prompted by Anthropic's legal concerns regarding its resemblance to their Claude AI, with a subsequent alteration made purely due to Steinberger's preference for the new name.
In a blog post outlining his decision to integrate with OpenAI, the Austrian developer conveyed that while he could have potentially developed OpenClaw into a massive corporation, he found the prospect unappealing, stating, "It’s not really exciting for me."
Steinberger further clarified his overarching ambition, asserting, "What I want is to change the world, not build a large company[,] and teaming up with OpenAI is the fastest way to bring this to everyone."
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced on X that Steinberger's role will be to "drive the next generation of personal agents" within the organization. As for OpenClaw itself, Altman confirmed that it will "live in a foundation as an open source project that OpenAI will continue to support."
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