OpenAI is in advanced talks to hire OpenClaw founder Peter Steinberger and several other people involved in maintaining the popular open source software used to power personal agents, according to two people directly involved in the talks.
The above-mentioned people said that if the negotiation is successful, Steinberg and his team will most likely be responsible for personal intelligence and other product-related work at OpenAI. The two parties also mentioned during the discussion that they plan to establish a foundation to operate the existing OpenClaw open source project.
Sources say Meta is also recruiting Steinberg to join. Meta is fiercely competing for talent with companies such as OpenAI, and has also listed the research and development of personal intelligence as its core direction.
Reached via text message, Steinberg said no final decision had been made on any offer. Last week, Steinberg revealed on the show that he personally invests US$10,000 to US$20,000 per month in OpenClaw-related expenses, and is currently negotiating cooperation with a number of large AI laboratories, includingMost watchedThe most important thing is communication with Meta and OpenAI.
Steinberg has previously said that cooperation with AI companies is the fastest way to promote the rapid development of OpenClaw.
The move comes just weeks after OpenClaw exploded into popularity. The project is causing a stir in tech circles by allowing users to build powerful AI agents that can control computers and complete complex tasks, such as generating marketing materials based on recordings of business meetings and making dental appointments.
AI agents have been a popular track for more than a year, but currently the vast majority of agents only focus on specific tasks, such as operating enterprise-level software such as Microsoft and Salesforce. The most outstanding implementation effects are code agents such as Anthropic's Claude Code and OpenAI's Codex, which are mainly used to write and modify software.
OpenClaw quickly became popular because it allows users to call multiple AI models from different vendors and allows the agent to have unrestricted access to the user's computer.
However, the deployment of this software requires certain technical skills, especially to prevent the agent from excessively obtaining sensitive information, which makes it currently only available to technical users. Therefore, one of OpenAI’s subsequent optimization directions may be to simplify the installation and use process of OpenClaw or integrate it into OpenAI’s existing agent products.