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OpenAI Snags OpenClaw Creator, Bringing Viral AI Agent In-House
In a significant move for the burgeoning AI landscape, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced Sunday that Peter Steinberger, the ingenious creator behind the popular AI agent OpenClaw, is officially joining the company. Furthermore, the widely adopted open-source project will find a new home within OpenAI, operating as a foundation that the tech giant will continue to support.
OpenClaw, previously known by monikers like Clawdbot and Moltbot, burst onto the scene just last month. Developed by Austrian software developer Peter Steinberger, its meteoric rise in popularity has been fueled by intense social media buzz and the growing demand from both consumers and businesses for autonomous tools. These AI agents are designed to independently complete tasks, make decisions, and execute actions on behalf of users, minimizing the need for constant human intervention.
Altman, in a post on X, lauded Steinberger, stating he is “joining OpenAI to drive the next generation of personal agents.” He further praised Steinberger as “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,” adding, “We expect this will quickly become core to our product offerings.”
While specific financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, the acquisition underscores the fierce competition among AI companies to secure top talent. OpenAI, which recently acquired iPhone designer Jony Ive’s AI devices startup io for over $6 billion in May, has been actively investing billions to attract leading AI developers and researchers.
OpenAI, currently valued at $500 billion and aiming for further growth, faces stiff competition in the generative AI market. Rivals like Google and Anthropic are aggressively pushing their AI models, which are being increasingly adopted by enterprises to automate business operations.
Anthropic, in particular, has gained considerable traction with its Claude offerings, including Claude Code and the recently introduced Claude Opus 4.6, lauded for its enhanced coding capabilities, sustained task performance, and ability to generate high-quality professional work. Anthropic itself was valued at $380 billion in a recent fundraising round.
OpenClaw’s reach extends globally, with significant popularity in China. It can be seamlessly integrated with Chinese-developed language models like DeepSeek and configured to function with Chinese messaging applications through customized setups. A spokesperson for Chinese search engine Baidu confirmed to CNBC that the company plans to offer direct access to OpenClaw within its primary smartphone app.
Despite its widespread adoption, some researchers have expressed concerns regarding the inherent openness of OpenClaw and the potential cyberthreats stemming from users’ ability to extensively customize the agent.