OpenAI hires 'genius' OpenClaw creator, but popular AI assistant will remain open source — Sam Altman says creator will work on 'smart agents' in new role
Tom's Hardware: For The Hardcore PC Enthusiast [Unofficial]
February 17, 2026
OpenAI has hired the creator of popular agentic AI tool OpenClaw, but has decided to keep the project open source. Despite its old Claude-inspired name, Anthropic threatened Steinberger with legal action ahead of multiple name changes.
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