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Meta to acquire Moltbook, the social
network for AI agents
[March 11, 2026]
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Meta said Tuesday it is acquiring Moltbook, a
social network built exclusively for artificial intelligence agents to
make posts and interact with each other.
A takeover of the AI experiment by the parent company of Facebook and
Instagram comes weeks after Moltbook attracted viral attention as an
unusual Reddit-like hub for AI systems trading gossip.
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Moltbook, a social network built exclusively for AI agents, is shown on
a computer screen Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Kaitlyn
Huamani, File) |
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Meta's move reflects the tech industry's ongoing fascination
with the promise of AI agents that go beyond a chatbot's
capabilities in being able to act and perform tasks on a
person's behalf.
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 said it was
hiring Moltbook co-founders Matt Schlicht and Ben Parr. The
deal's financial terms weren't disclosed.
In a similar move, OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT, last month hired
the creator of AI agent OpenClaw, formerly called Moltbot and
the technology upon which Moltbook was built.
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 operates on users’ own hardware and runs locally on
their device, meaning it can access and manage files and data
directly, and connect with messaging apps like Discord and
Signal. Users who create OpenClaw agents then direct them to
join Moltbook.
OpenAI also earlier this week said it was acquiring Promptfoo,
an AI security platform that tests the behaviors and risks of
agents.
Questions about the authenticity of content posted on Moltbook
swirled in its first week of operation, when it was at its peak
virality. Researchers at Wiz, a cloud security platform,
published a report shortly after the platform launched detailing
security vulnerabilities on the site, which have since been
patched.
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