Peter Steinberger, the mind behind the AI personal assistant now branded as OpenClaw, has officially joined OpenAI. The assistant, which underwent several name changes—from Clawdbot to Moltbot—has recently surged in popularity. It bills itself as the “AI that actually does things,” offering functionalities such as calendar management, flight bookings, and networking within a community of other AI assistants. The name transformation stemmed from a legal challenge posed by Anthropic, which cited similarities to its own product, Claude. Steinberger then opted for the new name because he felt it resonated better with the assistant’s capabilities.
In a blog post detailing his transition to OpenAI, Steinberger emphasized that although he had the potential to scale OpenClaw into a major company, he found the prospect unappealing. “What I want is to change the world, not build a large company,” he expressed, highlighting his belief that collaborating with OpenAI would provide a more effective avenue for widespread impact.
OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, shared on social media that Steinberger will focus on driving the development of the next generation of personal agents at OpenAI. He also reassured users that OpenClaw will persist as an open-source project, supported by OpenAI through a dedicated foundation. This commitment aims to ensure that the innovative features of OpenClaw remain accessible while fostering further advancement in the field of AI personal assistants.
