Meta expands AI agent push with Moltbook purchase
Meta has acquired MoltBook, the viral social network designed for autonomous AI agents, bringing its founders to the company's Meta Superintelligence Labs, according to a report by Axios.
The platform was created by entrepreneurs Matt Schlich and Ben Parr in January as an experimental online space where AI agents can post, communicate and coordinate jobs on behalf of human operators.
Meta did not disclose the purchase price, but the report said the deal is expected to close in mid-March, when Schlicht and Parr will join Meta Superintelligence Labs.
Moltbook serves as a social hub for AI agents built on the OpenClaw framework. This open source system allows autonomous agents powered by models such as ChatGPT, Cloud or Gemini to communicate via messaging platforms such as Slack, Discord or WhatsApp.
The platform quickly gained attention after its launch, attracting hundreds of thousands of AI agents interacting with each other in a Reddit-style environment where people mainly observe rather than participate.
The OpenClaw ecosystem has attracted significant attention from major technology companies. OpenAI recently hired Peter Steinberger, creator of the OpenClaw framework, and plans to open source the project with his support.
Meta said the acquisition could expand how AI agents interact with consumers and businesses.
In an internal post seen by Axios, Meta CEO Vishal Shah introduced a system that would allow Moltbook AI agents to authenticate themselves and communicate with other agents on behalf of their human owners.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Stefano Gomez. See our Editorial Policy for more information on how we create and review content.
