Peter Steinberger

Overview

Peter Steinberger is an Austrian developer and founder whom EP 30: OpenClaw: The Open-Source AI Agent That Got Its Creator Hired by OpenAI identifies as the creator of Open Claw and a former founder of PSPDFKit.

Current Profile

Within the available evidence, Steinberger is a source-scoped example of an individual developer turning a personal assistant experiment into a widely noticed open-source agent project. The episode says the project began in November 2025, passed through two names, grew rapidly, and led to Steinberger joining OpenAI while stewardship moved to an open-source foundation. The source does not provide primary records for that chronology, employment arrangement, or governance transfer.

Key Characteristics

• Built the personal-agent project that the episode identifies as OpenClaw.
• Is presented as an experienced software founder rather than a first-time hobbyist.
• Used open-source distribution and community extension as part of the project’s growth.
• Is reported to have joined OpenAI after the project attracted substantial attention.

Evidence

Creator and founder background

• EP 30: OpenClaw: The Open-Source AI Agent That Got Its Creator Hired by OpenAI identifies Steinberger as an Austrian developer, PSPDFKit founder, and creator of the personal assistant that became OpenClaw.

Project and employment trajectory

• EP 30: OpenClaw: The Open-Source AI Agent That Got Its Creator Hired by OpenAI reports that the project was published, renamed twice, grew rapidly on GitHub, and preceded Steinberger’s move to OpenAI and a foundation handoff.

Product stance

• EP 30: OpenClaw: The Open-Source AI Agent That Got Its Creator Hired by OpenAI presents the project as a local, persistent, extensible agent rather than a chatbot-only interface.

Qualifications

• All biographical, project-history, growth, hiring, and governance claims on this page come from one short podcast summary rather than primary records.
• The episode’s rename sequence and creator account conflict with or qualify ambiguous OpenClaw-origin claims elsewhere in the wiki; they are not treated as settled identity history.
• The transcript does not contain Steinberger’s own account or establish his exact role at OpenAI.

What Changed

• Added the first bounded profile for Steinberger from the Data Science With Sam account.
• Preserved uncertainty around project naming, creator identity, employment, and foundation stewardship.

Relationships

• Open Claw - project the source attributes to Steinberger.
• OpenAI - organization the source says Steinberger joined.
• Data Science With Sam - podcast that supplies the current profile.
• Agent Skill Supply-Chain Risk - security problem made visible by the ecosystem around the attributed project.