AI startup OpenAI has invited Peter Steinberger, the founder of OpenClaw, to lead the personal AI agents division. Concurrently, the entrepreneur faced accusations of refusing to launch the project’s token.
Peter Steinberger is joining OpenAI to drive the next generation of personal agents. He is 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. We expect this will quickly become core to our…
— Sam Altman (@sama) February 15, 2026
“He is a genius with many amazing ideas about a future where smart agents interact with each other to perform truly useful tasks for people. We expect this will quickly become a key part of our product offerings,” stated OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
The CEO added that OpenClaw will operate as an open project supported by his company.
“I want to change the world, not build a big corporation, and collaborating with OpenAI is the fastest way to bring this to everyone,” Steinberger noted in his blog.
OpenClaw (formerly Clawdbot) is an open-source service that gained popularity in late January. It allows the creation of AI agents that operate locally on the user’s device.
Challenges with the Crypto Community
In an interview with Lex Fridman, Steinberger discussed how he was attacked by the crypto community. At one point, the developer considered deleting the project.
“I didn’t know they were not only good at harassment but also very skilled at using scripts and tools. I underestimated these people. Honestly, I was close to just deleting it [Clawdbot],” he stated.
Steinberger is not interested in issuing or promoting a token, yet users actively called for it. People created a digital asset and began demanding the developer acknowledge it, collect fees, and engage in development. They spammed Discord and X.
Ultimately, he was accused of not pumping the token. Meanwhile, crypto scammers attempted to hack the developer’s GitHub, and during the project’s rebranding, all usernames were quickly hijacked to promote new digital assets.
“This is the worst form of online harassment I’ve encountered,” Steinberger emphasized.
Back in January, experts warned about the dangers of using the AI assistant Clawdbot. It could inadvertently disclose personal data and API keys.
