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OpenAI Hires OpenClaw Creator Peter Steinberger as Open-Source Project Moves to Foundation

The hire signals OpenAI’s push to make multi-agent personal assistants a core product focus.

Overview

  • CEO Sam Altman said Steinberger will lead the next generation of personal agents and that such capabilities are expected to become central to OpenAI’s offerings.
  • OpenClaw will remain open source under an independent foundation with ongoing support from OpenAI, and this is not an acquisition; financial and governance details were not disclosed.
  • The agent framework surged since its November launch, topping 100,000 GitHub stars and drawing about 2 million visitors in a single week, according to Steinberger.
  • Security concerns persist, with China’s industry ministry warning of risks from misconfigurations and Gartner reportedly labeling the code an unacceptable cybersecurity risk.
  • Reports say Steinberger weighed offers from major labs including Meta before choosing OpenAI, and some observers question whether the project can sustain its pace under the new arrangement.