OpenAI shows its latest OpenClaw hire to 'tease' Anthropic in viral picture of Sam Altman and Dario Amodei from India AI Summit

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently had an awkward moment on stage at the ongoing India AI Impact Summit 2026. In a clip from the event, the CEO briefly appeared confused when posing for a photograph with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other tech leaders. While the moment quickly passed, but the video was circulated widely. Some users also noticed that Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who were standing next to each other, did not join hands during the photo, unlike several other leaders on stage. The moment sparked online discussion. Now, the official X handle of ChatGPT – OpenAI’s chatbot has shared an edited image from the viral moment, swapping raised hands for oversized red lobster claws.

ChatGPT’s latest post teases Anthropic

The image does not include a caption, but appears to make a subtle reference to OpenAI’s latest OpenClaw hiring. The company recently hired Peter Steinberger, the creator of viral AI agent framework OpenClaw, in what might be the company's most strategically loaded talent grab this year. The deal hands Sam Altman a ready-made open-source ecosystem, a globally distributed agent platform, and a founder who turned down the chance to build his own company because he thought OpenAI would get him there faster.




Altman announced the hire on X on Sunday, saying Steinberger will "drive the next generation of personal agents." OpenClaw—the open-source tool that lets users spin up AI agents to handle emails, book flights, manage calendars, and talk to each other on a bot-only social network called MoltBook—will move into a foundation structure with continued support from OpenAI.


"The future is going to be extremely multi-agent," Altman wrote. "We expect this will quickly become core to our product offerings."


Timing is important to better understand ChatGPT’s latest post. Anthropic recently secured a $30 billion funding round and aired a Super Bowl advertisement that directly targeted OpenAI. The competition between the two has moved beyond model performance. The focus is now on winning developer interest, building AI agent ecosystems, and shaping how autonomous AI systems are developed.

Tensions follow OpenClaw’s rapid growth

The hire is being widely seen as a direct result of Anthropic’s recent actions involving OpenClaw. The project did more than simply use Anthropic’s models. It recommended Claude Opus 4.5 as the default option to millions of users, helping drive wide adoption. OpenClaw quickly gained traction, recording about 145,000 stars on GitHub, supporting around 1.5 million agents, and attracting roughly 2 million weekly visitors in a short period.


Anthropic later restricted OpenClaw’s API access in early January without prior notice, which disrupted the project’s core integration. This was followed by a legal notice from Anthropic, which argued that the project’s original name, “Clawdbot,” was too similar to “Claude.” The project’s founder agreed to change the name during an early-morning call. During the transition, the project’s online accounts were briefly taken over by scammers, who carried out a cryptocurrency fraud, according to reports.