OpenAI just hired the OpenClaw creator
The creator of the viral AI agent that actually does stuff just joined OpenAI.
OpenAI has hired Peter Steinberger, creator of the viral open-source AI assistant OpenClaw, to lead its "personal agents" division after reportedly beating Meta in a hiring battle. OpenClaw autonomously handles emails, web browsing, coding, and calendar management via WhatsApp/Telegram/Slack, growing from 9k to 145k+ GitHub stars and causing Mac Mini shortages. Jason Calacanis claims it handled 20% of his company's tasks in 20 days. The project remains open-source under a foundation, despite security concerns about third-party skills.
Why It Matters
This signals OpenAI's aggressive push into autonomous AI agents, moving beyond chatbots into systems that actively perform real-world tasks.