OpenClaw: The Viral AI Agent that Broke the Internet – Peter Steinberger | Lex Fridman Podcast #491

Peter Steinberger is the creator of OpenClaw, an open-source AI agent framework that’s the fastest-growing project in GitHub history.
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*Transcript:*

Transcript for OpenClaw: The Viral AI Agent that Broke the Internet – Peter Steinberger | Lex Fridman Podcast #491

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*EPISODE LINKS:*
Peter’s X: https://x.com/steipete
Peter’s GitHub: https://github.com/steipete
Peter’s Website: https://steipete.com
Peter’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steipete
OpenClaw Website: https://openclaw.ai
OpenClaw GitHub: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw
OpenClaw Discord: https://discord.gg/openclaw

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*OUTLINE:*
0:00 – Episode highlight
1:30 – Introduction
5:36 – OpenClaw origin story
8:55 – Mind-blowing moment
18:22 – Why OpenClaw went viral
22:19 – Self-modifying AI agent
27:04 – Name-change drama
44:15 – Moltbook saga
52:34 – OpenClaw security concerns
1:01:14 – How to code with AI agents
1:32:09 – Programming setup
1:38:52 – GPT Codex 5.3 vs Claude Opus 4.6
1:47:59 – Best AI agent for programming
2:09:59 – Life story and career advice
2:13:56 – Money and happiness
2:17:49 – Acquisition offers from OpenAI and Meta
2:34:58 – How OpenClaw works
2:46:17 – AI slop
2:52:20 – AI agents will replace 80% of apps
3:00:57 – Will AI replace programmers?
3:12:57 – Future of OpenClaw community

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