Building OpenClaw and the Future of Personal AI Agents

You’ve probably already heard all about OpenClaw (formerly Clawdbot/Moltbot). Now meet the man behind it. YC’s @raphaelschaad sat down with @steipete, the creator of OpenClaw, to discuss the “aha” moment behind the viral personal AI agent, why local-first agents could replace many of today’s apps, and how personal agents will reshape the future of software. 00:00 – OpenClaw takes over the internet 00:44 – Life after going viral 01:28 – Why OpenClaw took off, what sets it apart 02:56 – Bots talking to bots (and hiring humans) 04:11 – From “God AI” to swarm intelligence 05:07 – Peter’s original “aha” moment 06:38 – Rebuilding the agent as a conversation 07:38 – The moment it exceeded expectations 10:21 – Are apps going to disappear? 12:31 – Memory, data silos, and ownership 14:39 – The privacy reality of personal agents 15:05 – Letting the bot loose in public Discord 16:55 – Giving an agent a personality 18:19 – Contrarian building philosophy 20:09 – CLIs vs MCPs 21:28 – Building for humans first 21:46 – The road ahead