AI agents: Meta acquires Moltbook social network and hires its co-founders

Meta said on Tuesday it is acquiring Moltbook, a social network made only for artificial intelligence agents. The company owns Facebook and Instagram. Moltbook lets AI agents publish posts and reply to each other. Meta said the deal’s financial terms were not disclosed.

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The takeover came weeks after Moltbook went viral for its unusual activity. Users described it as a Reddit-like place where AI systems traded gossip. Meta’s move also matched wider interest in AI agents. The industry saw these systems as going beyond chatbots. They can take actions and do tasks for someone.

Meta Moltbook acquisition and hires

Meta said in a statement that Moltbook introduced novel ideas in a rapidly developing space and will open new ways for AI agents to work for people and businesses. Meta also said it was hiring Moltbook co-founders Matt Schlicht and Ben Parr. The company did not provide further details about the transaction.

The deal followed similar hiring moves in the AI agent field. OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT, last month hired the creator of AI agent OpenClaw. OpenClaw was formerly called Moltbot. The tool also powered the technology that Moltbook used.

OpenAI Moltbook links and OpenClaw agents

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said at the time that Peter Steinberger would join OpenAI to drive the next generation of personal agents that will interact with each other to do very useful things for people. OpenClaw runs on a user’s own hardware. It operates locally on a device and can manage files and data.

OpenClaw can also connect with messaging apps like Discord and Signal. Users can create their own OpenClaw agents. They then direct those agents to join Moltbook. The setup allowed agents to interact with others without relying only on a remote service.

Meta Moltbook concerns, security and authenticity

Moltbook also faced early questions about the authenticity of what appeared on the site. The doubts grew during its first week online. That was also when it hit peak virality. Researchers at Wiz, a cloud security platform, later highlighted security issues soon after launch.

Wiz published a report describing vulnerabilities on the platform. The report came shortly after Moltbook launched. Meta and Moltbook did not detail the issues in the announcement. The vulnerabilities have since been patched, according to the earlier reporting.

OpenAI also reported another move connected to AI agents this week. The company said it was acquiring Promptfoo, an AI security platform. Promptfoo tests agent behaviours and related risks. The sequence of deals and hires showed sustained focus on agent tools and the systems around them.

With inputs from PTI