Last Updated:February 16, 2026, 08:24 IST

Sam Altman announces Peter Steinberger, creator of OpenClaw, will join OpenAI to advance personal agents. OpenClaw will remain open source.

Peter Steinberger Joins OpenAI as Personal AI Agents Become Core Focus

OpenAI founder Sam Altman has announced that Peter Steinberger, the creator of OpenClaw, will be joining the AI research firm to drive the “next generation of personal agents”. Altman called Steinberger a ‘genius with a lot of amazing ideas about the future of very smart agents interacting with each other to do very useful things for people’.

Altman in the X post said that the company is expecting to make personal agents core to their product offerings.

OpenClaw aka Moltbot- the open-source autonomous AI bots that can perform various tasks on a local device while also connecting with a language model – has gone viral recently. Earlier, it was known as Clawdbot.

OpenClaw is designed to perform real-world tasks on behalf of users, such as managing calendars, messaging, browsing and other actions that go beyond simple chatbot responses.

Altman said that OpenAI will continue to support OpenClaw as an open source project. ” The future is going to be extremely multi-agent and it’s important to us to support open source as part of that,” Altman added.

Screenshots of AI bots interacting to each other have gone viral recently on social platform, attracting eyeballs and raising doubts over the dystopian future.

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The maker of Imperial Leather and Sanctuary Spa has said reaching shoppers on platforms like TikTok Shop was as important as Tesco, as the 142-year-old business vies to compete with a rising cohort of social media-savvy brands.

PZ Cussons – the consumer goods giant that was founded in 1884 and is behind a swathe of beauty, hygiene and baby products – said it had been investing more into innovation and building its brands.

Chief executive Jonathan Myers said the business has to “battle every day to win every purchase”.

“There’s hardly a store in the country that sells a washing and bathing product that doesn’t sell a PZ Cussons product,” he told the Press Association.

But he said the company had been trying to be at the forefront of online shopping trends that many newer brands are tapping into.

“If you look at the way that most of the insurgent brands are arriving, it’s through social media, and that blurs into e-commerce platforms, for example TikTok Shop,” he said.

“It’s about making sure that we’re present, that we’re growing fast, and that we’re stealing our share of purchases there, just as we would a Tesco Express down the street.”

TikTok Shop, the e-commerce arm of the video-sharing social media platform where users can buy and sell products, has grown rapidly over recent years.

Major retailers like Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury’s are now selling products on the marketplace alongside thousands of smaller businesses and brands.

TikTok Shop recently said it had become the fourth-largest beauty retailer in the UK, according to data from NielsenIQ, while beauty sales on the platform soared by 60% year-on-year in 2025 fuelled by trends such as Korean skincare.

Meanwhile, PZ Cussons’ Mr Myers highlighted the business’s activity in Indonesia – where it has been experimenting with new sales tactics, including a live-streaming channel from its factory.

He said: “We run three shifts of live-streamers who are driving demand for our brands that is then fulfilled through marketplaces like TikTok Shop, and delivered on the back of a moped.”

TikTok sales in Indonesia have increased more than 600%, where PZ Cussons currently operates a TikTok Shop.

The chief executive said he could “definitely see the rise of quick commerce” in urban areas of the UK, accelerated by the “blurring” of social media and shopping channels.

Mr Myers stressed that there was no room for “complacency”, adding: “Competition is good because it keeps us on our toes.”

YouTube sensations The Sidemen have unveiled ambitious plans to expand their Sides fried chicken chain with 15 more restaurants this year.

The brand said it plans to commit further to the UK after witnessing “incredible momentum” and open sites in new international markets.

The YouTube collective consists of Olajide ‘JJ’ Olatunji (KSI), Harry Lewis (Wroetoshaw), Simon Minter (Miniminter), Vik Barn (Vikkstar123), Josh Bradley (Zerkaa), Ethan Payne (Behzinga) and Tobi Brown (TBJZL), and has 22 million subscribers.

They launched the brand in 2021 in partnership with Scottish-based food franchise firm Hero Brands.

Sides has since expanded to five restaurants across the UK, in Essex, Manchester, London, Kent and Birmingham, and launched its first international site in Singapore last year.

It plans to rapidly grow with a raft of new openings, including “significantly” increasing its footprint across the UK.

The hot chicken specialist said it is planning to open new restaurants across Scotland, as well as in Cardiff and Liverpool.

Sides also revealed plans to grow further in Asia and the Middle East with new openings in India, Malaysia, Singapore and the UAE.

It is among a raft of chicken brands seeking to expand across the UK, with the likes of Popeyes, Wingstop and Dave’s Hot Chicken all recently laying out plans for further openings.

Aaron Moore-Saxton, managing director at Sides, said: “This is all about doubling down on growth for Sides during 2026.

“We’re seeing incredible momentum in the UK and rising demand internationally, and that gives us real confidence in the next phase of our journey as we open new sites in Glasgow, Wales and Liverpool.

“Our expansion into India, Malaysia and the UAE is a further evolution for the brand, while our continued investment in the UK remains central to our strategy.”

In a joint statement, the Sidemen said: “We are seriously hyped to take this next step and bring even more people into our Sides journey.

“For us, it’s always been about bold flavours and great food, good energy and sharing moments that go way beyond and this is honestly just the start. We can’t wait to take you all along for what’s next.”