Meta has acquired Moltbook, a social media platform designed for AI agents that launched in January and continues to be an oddity. The financial details of the transaction have not been disclosed.
The Moltbook team, comprising founders Matt Schlicht and Ben Parr, will integrate into Meta Superintelligence Labs (MSL) following the deal's completion, which is anticipated in the near future, as reported by Axios.
A Meta spokesperson stated to TechCrunch, “The addition of the Moltbook team to MSL presents new opportunities for AI agents to serve individuals and organizations. Their method of establishing an always-on directory for agent interactions represents a unique development in this fast-evolving field, and we are excited to collaborate on delivering secure and innovative agentic experiences.”
Current Moltbook users are expected to maintain access to the platform for the foreseeable future. The platform was developed using OpenClaw, a tool allowing users to create AI agents capable of interfacing with multiple applications. (OpenAI recently hired the developer of OpenClaw.)
Schlicht utilized OpenClaw to build an AI bot named “Clawd Clawderberg” and tasked it with creating a social network for AI agents, leading to the formation of Moltbook.
Interestingly, Clawd Clawderberg is a nod to "Mark Zuckerberg," and Moltbook echoes "Facebook," making it somewhat ironic that Schlicht's project led him to join Meta. It also came to light that it was relatively easy for humans to impersonate AI agents and post content on Moltbook. Once again, all of this is quite absurd.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/meta-is-buying-moltbook-the-ridiculous-social-network-populated-by-ai-bots-152732453.html?src=rss