Meta Acquires AI Social Network Moltbook
Meta Platforms has acquired Moltbook, a social networking platform designed for artificial intelligence agents. This deal brings Moltbook’s co-founders into Meta’s AI research division.
This acquisition signals an intense competition among technology giants to secure AI talent and technology. Autonomous agents, capable of executing real-world tasks, represent the industry’s next frontier.
Moltbook co-founders Matt Schlicht and Ben Parr will join Meta Superintelligence Labs, the unit led by former Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang. Schlicht and Parr are expected to begin their new roles at Meta Superintelligence Labs on March 16, according to Axios, which first reported the development.
Moltbook is described as a Reddit-like site where AI-powered bots appear to exchange code and share observations about their human owners. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
The platform began as a niche experiment but has since become central to a growing debate about how close computers are to possessing human-like intelligence. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman called Moltbook a "likely fad" but noted its underlying technology offered a "glimpse of the future."
Altman also stated, "Moltbook maybe (is a passing fad) but OpenClaw is not." OpenAI last month hired Peter Steinberger, the creator of OpenClaw, an open-source bot formerly known as Clawdbot or Moltbot. OpenClaw is backing the project’s open-sourcing.
Anthropic Chief Product Officer Mike Krieger said most people are not yet ready to give AI full autonomy over their computers.
Mr. Schlicht championed "vibe coding," a process of building programs with AI assistance. He stated he "didn't write one line of code" for Moltbook, building it largely using his personal AI assistant, Clawd Clawderberg.
Moltbook’s rapid rise also presented cybersecurity risks. Cybersecurity firm Wiz reported a major flaw that exposed private messages, more than 6,000 email addresses, and more than a million credentials. Wiz stated the problem was fixed after the firm contacted Moltbook.
Meta Platforms acquired Moltbook, an AI agent social networking platform.
Moltbook co-founders Matt Schlicht and Ben Parr are joining Meta Superintelligence Labs.
The acquisition highlights the competitive race for AI talent and technology among tech firms.
Source: REUTERS
