Sam Altman called the experience of using OpenClaw “magic.” With the help of an AI agent, he created an application he had been dreaming of for a long time.
Sam Altman called the experience of using OpenClaw “magic.” With the help of an AI agent, he created an application he had been dreaming of for a long time.
As it turned out, Altman had long dreamed of having an app that would help him cope with the huge number of morning messages.
“It’s a very frustrating task to wake up in the morning and go through all of this,” the OpenAI CEO said in a conversation with Stripe co-founder Patrick Collison. “So I thought, ‘Okay, I can finally automate this.’”
Altman didn't explain exactly how the app works or how it responds to his morning stream of messages, but he told Collison that the AI agent was a turning point for him.
“OpenClaw was one of the highlights of the industry for me, in terms of ‘This is the magic of AGI!’” Altman shared with Collison. “It’s a much more magical experience than it seems at first glance.”
OpenClaw is part of a larger shift in the AI industry. Unlike early chatbots, which mostly generated text, new agent-like systems are capable of performing actions across applications and workflows—such as sorting messages, creating draft responses, and prioritizing information.
The new system quickly gained attention within OpenAI. Earlier this year, the company hired OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger as it aggressively pushes deeper into so-called “agent” technologies.
Altman noted that he has since rebuilt his messaging system using Codex — OpenAI’s model for code generation — and is now experimenting with similar tools for other tasks, including home automation.
