Meta Says No. 1 App Muse Was Built From Scratch as OpenClaw Similarities Go Viral
Updated
Updated · TechCrunch · Sep 22
Meta Says No. 1 App Muse Was Built From Scratch as OpenClaw Similarities Go Viral
3 articles · Updated · TechCrunch · Sep 22
Summary
Meta said Muse was built from scratch but “definitely heavily inspired” by OpenClaw after viral X posts argued the fast-growing AI app was essentially OpenClaw repackaged for mainstream users.
Nat Friedman, Meta’s Superintelligence Labs product head, did not dispute reports that Muse used the same workspace file names and a nearly identical SOUL.md configuration file, saying OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger “got those things exactly right.”
Friedman said Meta’s team embraced OpenClaw after using it in January, bought hundreds of Mac minis, and set out to build a version that could be made safer, easier to use, and scalable to billions of people.
Muse’s breakout traction has raised the stakes around the comparison: the app recently reached No. 1 on the U.S. App Store and is reportedly outpacing ChatGPT’s launch on a like-for-like basis.