OpenClaw founder Peter Steinberger joins OpenAI

Source: Mashable Tech

Background

The founder of the viral AI assistant OpenClaw (formerly known as Moltbot and Clawdbot) is now joining OpenAI. The recent, quick name change may have been a hint.

OpenClaw can be explored in the original coverage: What is Clawdbot? How to try it and the name‑change announcement: Clawdbot changes name to Moltbot → OpenClaw.

Announcement

Developer Peter Steinberger announced the move on his personal site on Friday, February 14 (Valentine’s Day). He described the previous month as a “whirlwind” thanks to the attention generated by Clawdbot/Moltbot/OpenClaw, which opened many opportunities for him.

Steinberger noted that while OpenClaw could become a huge company, that prospect does not excite him as a builder. He said he has already “done the whole creating‑a‑company game,” referring to his earlier document‑software venture Nutrient (formerly PSPDFKit) – see its repository on GitHub: https://github.com/pspdfkit.

Future Plans

Steinberger’s next mission is “to build an agent that even my mum can use.” He explained:

“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.”

He emphasized that keeping OpenClaw open source is important and hopes to establish the project as a foundation. OpenAI will sponsor OpenClaw and has made “strong commitments,” though the specifics were not disclosed.

Context

The news arrives as OpenAI is retiring its popular GPT‑4o model (Mashable report) and beginning to test advertising within its products (Mashable report).

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in April 2025, alleging copyright infringement in training and operating its AI systems.