OpenAI has hired Peter Steinberger, the creator of the rapidly popular AI agent OpenClaw, to lead the development of the company’s next generation of personal AI agents. The move, announced by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on Sunday, will see OpenClaw continue as an open-source project supported by the company.
Altman described Steinberger as “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,” adding that he expects the technology to “quickly become core to our product offerings.” Steinberger himself confirmed the move on X, stating he was joining OpenAI “to make agents accessible to everyone.”
OpenClaw, previously known as Clawdbot and Moltbot, gained traction in recent weeks for lowering the barrier to entry for experimenting with agent-based AI. The tool allows users to grant an AI model – such as Anthropic’s Claude or a future iteration of OpenAI’s GPT – access to their computer and data, enabling it to autonomously perform tasks. Steinberger noted in a recent blog post that the project’s rapid growth had been unexpected, stating, “The last month has flown by, I never thought my playground project would get so much attention.”
The Austrian-born Steinberger is a serial entrepreneur. In 2013, he founded PSPDFkit, a software company specializing in document handling, alongside Martin Schürrer. The company’s software is currently used by major international corporations including Dropbox, IBM, SAP, and Lufthansa. Steinberger sold his stake in PSPDFkit to Insight Partners in 2021 for €100 million.
Following the sale of PSPDFkit, Steinberger reportedly experienced a period of searching for purpose and underwent a period of mental exhaustion, describing the phase as “typical after an exit.” He engaged in travel, therapy, and experimentation before returning to programming and ultimately developing OpenClaw after working on 43 different projects.
Despite the potential of OpenClaw, Steinberger acknowledged the significant security risks associated with granting an AI agent full access to a user’s system, including access to sensitive data like passwords and payment information. He also revealed that operating the application currently costs him between $10,000 and $20,000 per month, a factor in his decision to join OpenAI. According to Steinberger, he received multiple acquisition offers, but ultimately chose OpenAI due to their commitment to maintaining OpenClaw as an open-source project.
OpenAI will establish a foundation to support the continued development of OpenClaw as an open-source project. Steinberger has stated his goal is to create an AI agent that is accessible to a wider audience, stating, “My next mission is to build an AI agent that my mother can use.” He believes achieving this requires further advancements in security and access to the latest AI models, and research.
Steinberger’s rise in the tech community culminated in a recent appearance at the “ClawCon” conference near Vienna’s Prater park, which drew an unexpectedly large crowd of approximately 500 attendees. The event featured presentations from developers showcasing their OpenClaw-based projects, ranging from automated breweries to complete home automation systems. Steinberger had returned to Vienna from San Francisco specifically for the conference after initial discussions with tech CEOs regarding a potential acquisition.
