# OpenClaw AI agent surge

> OpenClaw drew more than 100,000 GitHub stars as its personal AI agent spread.

- Owner: Peter Steinberger; OpenClaw Foundation
- Kind: App & software
- Sector: Technology
- Seed date: 2025-12-19
- Milestone date: 2026-01-29
- Date basis: Documented milestone; not a measured attention peak.
- Spread Score: 48 (Notable), v1.3
- Mechanics: Underdog, Press loop, Controversy

## Summary

A personal AI assistant grew from Steinberger’s WhatsApp relay. Clawdbot drew demos and forum discussion, became OpenClaw, and inspired agent networks such as Moltbook.

## Timeline

- 2025-12-19 — OpenClaw (Open web) — The project described CLAWDIS as a personal AI assistant in its GitHub documentation.
- 2026-01-04 — OpenClaw (Open web) — The project documentation began calling the personal AI assistant CLAWDBOT.
- 2026-01-20 — Federico Viticci (Open web) — Viticci described using the assistant via Telegram to manage personal tasks.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/mcp#api).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/openclaw-agent-2026

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “OpenClaw AI agent surge.” Case HIS-01841. Spread Score v1.3: 48/100. Updated 2026-10-28. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-01841