Peter Steinberger, the creator of the publicly available AI aide OpenClaw, has accepted a position at OpenAI, with the project transitioning into an autonomous foundation, as per an announcement made by the organizations on Sunday. Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, shared on X that Steinberger is joining the team “to spearhead the next era of personal assistants.” Altman affirmed that OpenClaw “will operate within a foundation as an open project supported by OpenAI.”
OpenClaw functions as a personal AI assistant that operates on users’ personal devices and seamlessly integrates with various messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, Telegram, iMessage, and Slack. It boasts capabilities like email management and flight check-ins.
Since its launch in November, the project has experienced significant growth, accumulating over 100,000 stars on GitHub and attracting 2 million visitors within a single week, according to a blog post by Steinberger. Despite its growing popularity, the project has attracted attention, with China’s industry ministry cautioning that incorrect setup could jeopardize users’ security.
In a blog post, Steinberger emphasized the importance of maintaining OpenClaw as an open-source platform. “Ultimately, I believed OpenAI was the ideal environment to further my vision and broaden its impact,” he expressed.