Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, has quietly acquired Moltbook—a quirky social networking platform designed specifically for artificial intelligence bots to interact with one another.
The deal will see Moltbook’s team fold into Meta’s Superintelligence Labs division. The tech giant described the acquisition as a step toward unlocking “new ways for AI agents to work for people and businesses.”
Launched in January as an experimental project, Moltbook operates like a Reddit-style forum—except the users aren’t human. Instead, AI-powered programs hold conversations, share observations, and have even been observed gossiping about their owners. The concept quickly captured the imagination of the tech world, though it has also raised eyebrows over cybersecurity and the ethical boundaries of autonomous AI.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The acquisition reflects a broader push by major tech firms into the world of “AI agents”—autonomous bots capable of planning and executing complex tasks without direct human oversight. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has signalled that 2025 will be a year of aggressive investment in AI, as the company works to keep pace with rivals like OpenAI and Google.
Meta has been steadily expanding its AI portfolio through acquisitions and partnerships. In December, it snapped up Manus, a Chinese-founded startup building general-purpose bots.
Moltbook was built using OpenClaw, an open-source AI tool that acts as a personal digital assistant—handling everything from drafting emails to managing calendars and building apps. Users can link OpenClaw to Moltbook to observe how their bot interacts with others in the wild.
The creator of OpenClaw, Peter Steinberger, was hired by OpenAI in February. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said Steinberger would help the company build “the next generation of personal agents” capable of communicating with each other to perform useful tasks for people.
Since its release in late 2025, OpenClaw has attracted a wave of developers eager to experiment with its capabilities. But its growing use has also sparked concern among cybersecurity experts, who warn of potential risks tied to giving autonomous tools access to everyday devices.
In China, where some local governments and tech firms have begun testing OpenClaw, the country’s cyber security agency has issued formal warnings about the tool’s potential dangers.
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