Tools: From Moltbot to OpenClaw: When the Dust Settles, the Project Survived

The Name That Finally Stuck ## The Project Was Never the Problem ## Security: The Real Turning Point ## The Rebrand Isn’t About Anthropic Anymore ## What Actually Survived the Chaos ## The Bigger Lesson (Now That We’re Calm) ## Final Thoughts Clawdbot / Moltbot / OpenClaw — Part 4 After a chaotic rebrand, account hijackings, crypto scams, and serious security scrutiny, the project formerly known as Clawdbot and Moltbot has emerged as OpenClaw. This isn’t just another rename — it’s a reset. The core vision survived, security is now front and center, and the project is finally acting like the infrastructure it accidentally became. Months ago, a weekend hack exploded into one of the fastest‑growing open‑source AI projects in GitHub history. Days ago, it was in chaos. If you’ve been following this series, you already know the story: Today, that same project has a new name again — OpenClaw — and, more importantly, a chance to reset. This is not another takedown. This is what happened after the meltdown. Peter Steinberger’s announcement of OpenClaw is deliberately calm — and that alone says a lot. After Clawd (too close to “Claude”) and Moltbot (symbolic, but awkward), OpenClaw feels intentional. The name is simple and explicit: After watching a name change trigger real‑world damage, this boring professionalism is exactly what the project needed. Lost in the chaos of the last chapter was an important fact: The software itself was always compelling. OpenClaw (formerly Clawdbot / Moltbot) is still: That core vision hasn’t changed. What has changed is posture. Peter’s OpenClaw announcement makes one thing explicit: Your assistant. Your machine. Your rules. That line matters — especially after the security wake‑up call. The most important part of the OpenClaw announcement isn’t the name. This is an implicit acknowledgment that earlier criticism wasn’t wrong. Self‑hosted AI agents with: …are inherently dangerous if treated casually. OpenClaw is now framing security as a first‑class concern, not an afterthought. That doesn’t magically solve prompt injection or misconfiguration — those remain unsolved industry problems — but it does signal maturity. The project crossed the line from “cool hack” to “serious infrastructure.” The tone finally matches that reality. One subtle but important shift: OpenClaw’s announcement barely mentions Anthropic. Earlier discourse framed the project as “Claude with hands.” That framing was viral — and legally fragile. OpenClaw is now clearly positioned as model‑agnostic infrastructure. New model support (KIMI, Xiaomi MiMo) reinforces that: Whether or not you agree with Anthropic’s trademark enforcement, this decoupling was inevitable if the project wanted to survive long‑term. After everything — legal pressure, scammers, vulnerabilities, social media storms — what’s left? Surprisingly, almost everything that mattered. ✅ The codebase ✅ The community ✅ The core vision ✅ The momentum With hindsight, this saga isn’t really about names, trademarks, or even Anthropic. It’s about what happens when: OpenClaw is now acting like a project that understands that responsibility. That’s the real evolution. OpenClaw doesn’t erase what happened — but it does show learning. The lobster metaphor still works: not just molting to grow, but hardening the shell afterward. If you’re trying OpenClaw today: The chaos chapter is over. This one is about sustainability. Project: https://openclaw.ai GitHub: https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw Discord: https://discord.com/invite/clawd Templates let you quickly answer FAQs or store snippets for re-use. Are you sure you want to hide this comment? It will become hidden in your post, but will still be visible via the comment's permalink. Hide child comments as well For further actions, you may consider blocking this person and/or reporting abuse - a forced rebrand - account hijackings - crypto scammers - exposed servers - and a community trying to make sense of it all in real time - trademark searches were done before launch - domains were secured - migration code was written - no 5am Discord naming roulette - Open — open source, community‑driven, self‑hosted - Claw — a nod to the lobster lineage that never went away - a self‑hosted AI agent - running on your machine - living inside chat apps people already use - powered by models you choose - with memory, tools, and real system access - 34 security‑related commits - Machine‑checkable security models - Clear warnings about prompt injection - shell access - email access - chat integrations - persistent memory - no single vendor dependency - no implied endorsement - no brand confusion - casual security assumptions - “we’ll fix it later” energy - open‑source velocity meets viral scale - indie builders accidentally become infrastructure - “just a side project” crosses into real‑world risk - read the security docs - don’t expose it to the public internet - treat it like the powerful system it is