OpenAI Hires OpenClaw Creator Peter Steinberger to Lead Personal Agents
Narrative
Peter Steinberger, the solo developer behind the viral open-source AI agent OpenClaw (formerly Clawdbot/Moltbot), is joining OpenAI. Altman praises his "amazing ideas" on multi-agent systems, stating the future is "extremely multi-agent." OpenClaw will transition to an independent foundation as an open-source project, with continued OpenAI support and resources.
Reality
Announced February 15, 2026 via Sam Altman's X post and Steinberger's personal update. Not a full acquisition—classic talent hire with the OSS project moving to a funded foundation rather than shutdown. Steinberger joins to focus on next-gen personal agents; OpenClaw remains open and independent. Viral project exploded in Jan 2026 with massive GitHub traction before name changes due to Anthropic trademark concerns.
Implication
Signals OpenAI prioritizing agentic workflows and multi-agent orchestration over pure model scaling. Brings real-world, user-adopted agent experience in-house to accelerate personal agent features in ChatGPT ecosystem. Reinforces open-source strategy for ecosystem building while securing talent; sets precedent for indie agent projects gaining big-lab backing. Accelerates industry shift toward reliable, tool-using, persistent agents as core product differentiator amid competition from Anthropic/Google.