Some see Steinberger's departure to OpenAI as a blow to the European tech ecosystem.
The Austrian creator of the popular open-source AI assistant OpenClaw is joining US frontier lab OpenAI, in a move some see as a blow to the European tech ecosystem.
OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman announced on X last night that “genius” software developer Peter Steinberger is joining the company to “drive the next generation of personal agents”.
Altman said: “OpenClaw will live in a foundation as an open source project that OpenAI will continue to support. The future is going to be extremely multi-agent and it’s important to us to support open source as part of that.”
In a separate X post, Steinberger posted: “I’m joining OpenAI to bring agents to everyone. OpenClaw is becoming a foundation: open, independent and just getting started.”
He also wrote a blog post explaining his decision, saying he spent last week in San Francisco talking with the major labs.
OpenClaw, previously called Clawdbot, then Moltbot, has become a viral sensation over the past few weeks as an “AI that actually does things”, from responding to emails, checking in flights and carrying out research. The OpenClaw tech was created in Europe.
Responding to the news, some commentators see Steinberger’s exit to a US firm as a blow to the European tech ecosystem.
Posting on LinkedIn, one tech commentator said: ”As happy as I am for him as a fellow Austrian, I can’t help but wonder if there was a counter offer from a European tech company.”
Another commentator said: “It‘s a real pity that every promising idea/startup gets immediately swallowed by US big tech.”
A third person posted: “Europe isn’t losing to OpenAI. Europe is losing to its own bureaucracy. When Zuck, Sam, and Satya call personally while European leadership is still ‘aligning on a process,’ the outcome is a foregone conclusion.”
Many who posted on social media congratulated Steinberger on the move.
Image: Peter Steinberger