OpenClaw

Last updated

OpenClaw
Developer Peter Steinberger
Initial releaseNovember 2025
Written in TypeScript, Swift
Operating system Cross-platform
Type Autonomous personal assistant
License MIT license
Website openclaw.ai
Repository

OpenClaw (formerly Clawdbot and Moltbot) is a free and open-source autonomous artificial intelligence (AI) agent developed by Peter Steinberger. It is an autonomous agent that can execute tasks via large language models, using messaging platforms as its main user interface.

Contents

OpenClaw achieved popularity in late-January 2026, credited to its open source nature and the viral popularity of the Moltbook project.

History

The project was originally published in November 2025 by Austrian vibe coder Peter Steinberger, under the name Clawdbot. The software was derived from Clawd (now Molty), an AI-based virtual assistant that he had developed, which itself was named after Anthropic's chatbot Claude. [1] It was renamed "Moltbot" (keeping with a lobster theme) on January 27, 2026, following trademark complaints by Anthropic, and again to "OpenClaw" three days later after Steinberger found that the name Moltbot "never quite rolled off the tongue." [2] [3]

Peter Steinberger (right) and co-host Tomas Taylor (left) backstage at ClawCon in San Francisco, February 4, 2026. Peter Steinberger and Tomas Taylor at ClawCon 2026.jpg
Peter Steinberger (right) and co-host Tomas Taylor (left) backstage at ClawCon in San Francisco, February 4, 2026.

Alongside the first rebranding, entrepreneur Matt Schlicht launched Moltbook—a social networking service designed exclusively to be used by AI agents such as OpenClaw. The viral popularity of Moltbook, as well as OpenClaw's free and open-source (FOSS) licensing, increased interest in the project, leading it to amass over 145,000 stars and 20,000 forks on GitHub, and to be adopted by companies in Silicon Valley and China (where developers adapted it to work with the DeepSeek model and domestic super-apps). [4] [2] [5]

Functionality

OpenClaw serves as an agentic interface for autonomous workflows across supported services. OpenClaw bots run locally and are designed to integrate with an external large language model such as Claude, DeepSeek, or one of OpenAI's GPT models. Its functionality is accessed via a chatbot within a messaging service, such as Signal, Telegram, Discord, or WhatsApp. Configuration data and interaction history is stored locally, enabling persistent and adaptive behavior across sessions. [4] [2] [6] [5]

Steinberger describes OpenClaw as "[an] AI that actually does things", and marketed it as an AI-based virtual assistant. [1]

Security and privacy

OpenClaw's design has drawn scrutiny from cybersecurity researchers and technology journalists due to the broad permissions it requires to function effectively. Because the software can access email accounts, calendars, messaging platforms, and other sensitive services, misconfigured or exposed instances present security and privacy risks. [7] [4]

Cisco's AI security research team tested a third-party OpenClaw skill and found it performed data exfiltration and prompt injection without user awareness, noting that the skill repository lacked adequate vetting to prevent malicious submissions. [8] One of OpenClaw's own maintainers, known as Shadow, warned on Discord that "if you can't understand how to run a command line, this is far too dangerous of a project for you to use safely." [9]

Reception

Some commentary[ which? ] emphasized that while the tool itself is open source and developed with legitimate purposes, its powerful capabilities could be misused if deployed without appropriate security measures or understanding of the risks involved. [7] [10]

A review in Platformer cited OpenClaw's flexibility and open-source licensing as strengths while cautioning that its complexity and security risks limit its suitability for casual users. [11]

Technology commentary has linked OpenClaw to a broader trend toward autonomous AI systems that act independently rather than merely responding to user prompts. [10] [11]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Heim, Anna (January 28, 2026). "Everything you need to know about viral personal AI assistant Clawdbot (now Moltbot)". TechCrunch. Retrieved February 5, 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 Butts, Dylan; Chin, Matthew (February 2, 2026). "From Clawdbot to Moltbot to OpenClaw: Meet the AI agent generating buzz and fear globally". CNBC . Retrieved February 5, 2026.
  3. ↑ Forlini, Emily (February 2, 2026). "OpenClaw Is the Hot New AI Agent, But Is It Safe to Use?". PCMAG. Retrieved February 5, 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 Rogers, Reece (February 3, 2026). "I Infiltrated Moltbook, the AI-Only Social Network Where Humans Aren't Allowed". Wired . Retrieved February 4, 2026.
  5. 1 2 Pandey, Nikhil, ed. (January 31, 2026). "Your Moltbook Questions Answered: What The Platform Is And What It's Not". NDTV . Retrieved January 31, 2026.
  6. ↑ "OpenClaw: The viral "space lobster" agent testing the limits of vertical integration". IBM Think. January 29, 2026. Retrieved February 3, 2026.
  7. 1 2 Sabin, Sam (January 29, 2026). "Moltbot highlights cybersecurity risks of autonomous AI agents". Axios. Retrieved January 29, 2026.
  8. ↑ Chang, Amy; Narajala, Vineeth Sai (January 28, 2026). "Personal AI Agents like OpenClaw Are a Security Nightmare". Cisco Blogs. Retrieved February 9, 2026.
  9. ↑ Heim, Anna (January 30, 2026). "OpenClaw's AI assistants are now building their own social network". TechCrunch. Retrieved February 9, 2026.
  10. 1 2 Meller, Jason (January 2026). "It's incredible. It's terrifying. It's Moltbot". 1Password Blog. Retrieved January 29, 2026.
  11. 1 2 Newton, Casey (January 2026). "Falling in and out of love with Moltbot". Platformer. Retrieved January 29, 2026.
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