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OpenClaw has become an AI obsession for many over recent weeks, but the tool's creator is now set to join OpenAI. Announced by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Peter Steinberger will work on “the next generation of personal agents” for ChatGPT and across its other products.
Altman says, “He 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. We expect this will quickly become core to our product offerings.”
OpenClaw AI is designed to operate autonomously, undertaking tasks like clearing your inbox or checking in for flights without you needing to prompt it. It can access your personal services, such as your email or computer files, to undertake that work. It will also message you through third-party services, such as iMessage or WhatsApp, with updates on its progress.
The tool was first known as Clawdbot, then as Moltbot, and later as OpenClaw, with a lobster-themed logo. Security experts have expressed concern over the extent of OpenClaw's access to other services and users' information.
Steinberger shared a blog post explaining his decision to join OpenAI. He says, “I could totally see how OpenClaw could become a huge company. And no, it’s not really exciting for me. I’m a builder at heart.”
OpenAI has yet to share any further details around Steinberger’s hiring, and we don’t know what his job title will be. It comes at a time when many high-profile employees have left OpenAI for rival companies.
Altman confirmed that OpenClaw will continue as an open-source project and said OpenAI will provide “support,” but has yet to specify what that will entail. He says, "The future is going to be extremely multi-agent and it's important to us to support open source as part of that."
Disclosure: Ziff Davis, PCMag's parent company, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in April 2025, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.