Peter Steinberger, OpenClaw Founder, Set To Join OpenAI

OpenAI has announced a major addition to its team with the recruitment of Peter Steinberger, the founder of OpenClaw, who will be joining the company to drive the development of next-generation personal agents.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed the strategic hire, describing Steinberger as "a genius with a lot of amazing ideas about the future of very smart agents interacting with each other to do very useful things for people."

Sam Altman Announces Strategic Hire

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, took to social media to announce the exciting news, emphasizing Steinberger's vision for multi-agent AI systems.

"Peter Steinberger is joining OpenAI to drive the next generation of personal agents," Altman wrote. "He is a genius with a lot of amazing ideas about the future of very smart agents interacting with each other to do very useful things for people. We expect this will quickly become core to our product offerings."

In his own announcement on X, Steinberger wrote: "I'm joining @OpenAI to bring agents to everyone. @OpenClaw is becoming a foundation: open, independent, and just getting started."

Who Is Peter Steinberger?

Peter Steinberger is an Austrian entrepreneur and technologist with a distinguished track record in software development and AI innovation.

Educational Background

Steinberger studied at Technische Universität Wien and HTL Braunau, according to his LinkedIn profile. He earned a BSc in Computer and Information Sciences between 2008 and 2012, during which he launched his university's first Mac/iOS course and tutored development teams while working with Apple Austria.

Earlier, at HTL Braunau, he built a power-line-based home automation system using C, assembly, and Java—an early indication of his technical prowess and innovative thinking.

PSPDFKit: Building a Global Success

Steinberger founded PSPDFKit GmbH in 2011 in Vienna, a B2B company focused on PDF and document management tools. In a 2019 interview with Semafor, he explained that he started the company to solve PDF-related problems on iOS, leveraging his strong expertise in the area.

What began as a bootstrapped startup grew into a global remote company with more than 60 employees. Steinberger successfully transitioned from engineer to CEO and later into product research, building technology used by major clients including Apple and Adobe.

In October 2021, Insight Partners invested in PSPDFKit, after which Steinberger sold most of his stake to pursue new ventures in the AI space.

OpenClaw: The Open Agent Platform

In May 2025, Steinberger founded Amantus Machina, a Vienna-based startup working on next-generation hyper-personal AI agents. This work led to the creation of OpenClaw, launched in November 2025.

OpenClaw (previously known as Clawbot and Moltbot) is an open agent AI platform that runs on your machine and works from the chat apps you already use. The platform has seen rapid adoption, particularly in China, where it can be paired with locally developed language models such as DeepSeek and customized to integrate with Chinese messaging apps.

Steinberger is also a co-founder of Founders of Europe, an early-stage investment consortium that backs pre-seed and seed-stage startups.

What Peter Steinberger Will Do At OpenAI

According to Sam Altman, Steinberger will help build the "next generation" of personal AI agents at OpenAI. This represents a significant evolution in AI technology, moving beyond simple chatbots and assistants to more sophisticated systems capable of complex, multi-agent collaboration.

Steinberger's expertise in building intelligent systems and his innovative approach to AI agent development make him an ideal fit for this ambitious project. His work at OpenClaw has already positioned him as a thought leader in the space of autonomous agents and their practical applications.

What This Means for OpenAI

The addition of Peter Steinberger signals OpenAI's serious commitment to the personal agent space. As AI technology continues to evolve, the ability for multiple intelligent agents to collaborate and solve complex problems could revolutionize how people interact with AI in their daily lives.

This hire comes at a time when the AI industry is seeing rapid advancement in agent capabilities, with companies racing to develop more autonomous and capable systems. Steinberger's insights and experience will likely accelerate OpenAI's efforts in this competitive landscape.

The decision to keep OpenClaw as an open-source project also demonstrates OpenAI's commitment to supporting the broader AI ecosystem, even as the company develops proprietary solutions.

OpenClaw's Growing Adoption

OpenClaw has demonstrated strong market fit, particularly in international markets. According to CNBC, the platform has seen rapid adoption in China, where users appreciate its flexibility and ability to integrate with local AI models and communication platforms.

This global reach and proven ability to work across different ecosystems will likely inform Steinberger's work at OpenAI as the company seeks to build agents that can serve users worldwide.

Looking Ahead

With Steinberger now on board, OpenAI is positioning itself to be at the forefront of the personal agent revolution. The integration of multi-agent systems into OpenAI's core products could transform how users leverage AI for productivity, decision-making, and everyday tasks.

As Sam Altman noted, this technology is expected to "quickly become core to our product offerings," suggesting that users may see these advanced agent capabilities integrated into ChatGPT and other OpenAI products in the near future.

As the field of AI agents continues to mature, this strategic hire underscores the importance of bringing together top talent to tackle the challenges of building truly intelligent, collaborative AI systems that can meaningfully improve people's lives.

Industry Reaction

The announcement has generated significant buzz in the AI community, with Sam Altman's post receiving over 30,800 likes and 3,700 replies within hours of posting. Industry observers see this as a clear signal that the race to build practical, multi-agent AI systems is accelerating.

The combination of Steinberger's entrepreneurial experience, technical expertise, and vision for open, collaborative AI aligns perfectly with OpenAI's mission to ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity.