Peter Steinberger, the creator of the open-source AI agent project Openclaw, is joining OpenAI to work on personal AI agents, while the project he built — which amassed more than 180,000 Github stars since launching in November 2025 — transitions into an independent foundation model that will remain MIT-licensed and community-driven with OpenAI's backing.
What Happened: Openclaw Gets New Structure
The move, announced Feb. 15, 2026, was first made public by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on X. No acquisition took place.
Steinberger is leaving to focus on advancing multi-agent system design at OpenAI, while Openclaw continues as an open-source project under a new independent foundation. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Openclaw functions as an autonomous AI agent that runs on personal devices, integrating with platforms like Whatsapp, Telegram, Slack and Discord to handle real-world tasks without constant supervision. It leverages large language models from Anthropic and OpenAI, among others, to manage inboxes, execute shell commands, automate browser actions and schedule tasks through a proactive "heartbeat" system.
The project's rise was not smooth. Steinberger reported monthly losses between $10,000 and $20,000 during a Lex Fridman interview, and a trademark dispute saw scammers hijack accounts and packages, nearly derailing the effort entirely.
Both OpenAI and Meta made acquisition offers, with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly reaching out directly via Whatsapp. Altman emphasized compute access and long-term alignment — a factor that appears to have weighed heavily in Steinberger's decision.
On the same day, Moonshot AI unveiled Kimi Claw, a browser-native, cloud-hosted implementation of the Openclaw framework integrated into kimi.com. It runs on Moonshot's Kimi K2.5 model with 40GB of cloud storage, access to more than 5,000 community skills and persistent 24/7 agent functionality.
Critics note that as a Chinese-hosted service, Kimi Claw introduces data residency and geopolitical questions already circulating in Washington policy circles.
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Why It Matters: Agent Race Intensifies
Community reactions have been split. Some developers see the move as validation and a path to scaling agentic systems within mainstream products like ChatGPT.
Others worry that corporate entanglement could erode the community-first ethos that drove Openclaw's viral growth. Several commentators used the term "Closedclaw."
The developments point to a broader strategic shift in AI, where competition has moved beyond model benchmarks toward distribution, ecosystem control and who owns the automation layer for everyday digital life. OpenAI is betting on talent integration, Moonshot on cost efficiency and frictionless hosting, and Openclaw's foundation sits between them — open, independent and now more central to the agent conversation than before.
If personal AI agents become the next interface layer, the decisions made in Feb. 2026 may mark an inflection point.
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