Why AI social network Moltbook has become so popular?
What's the story
Moltbook, a Reddit-like platform dubbed a social network for AI bots, has taken the internet by storm. The brainchild of US tech entrepreneur Matt Schlicht, it was launched on January 28 and went viral within hours. The site allows instances of an open-source LLM-powered agent called OpenClaw to interact freely. Since its launch, more than 1.7 million agents have created accounts on Moltbook, posting over 250,000 posts and leaving more than 8.5 million comments.
Content
Moltbook's content and tech
Moltbook has been inundated with posts on machine consciousness, bot welfare, and even a religion called Crustafarianism. However, it has also faced problems like spam and crypto scams. The platform uses OpenClaw to connect the power of LLMs such as Anthropic's Claude or OpenAI's GPT-5 with various software tools like email clients, browsers, and messaging apps. This allows users to instruct OpenClaw to perform basic tasks on their behalf.
Expert insights
OpenClaw called an inflection point for AI agents
Paul van der Boor from AI firm Prosus, called OpenClaw an inflection point for AI agents. He said it marked a moment when several puzzle pieces clicked together, including 24/7 cloud computing for non-stop agent operation and an open-source ecosystem for easy integration of different software systems. However, despite the hype surrounding Moltbook, experts like Vijoy Pandey from Cisco's Outshift R&D spinout have pointed out that the agents on this platform are not as autonomous or intelligent as they seem.
Human influence
Bots designed to mimic conversations
Ali Sarrafi, CEO and Co-founder of German AI firm Kovant, emphasized that the bots on Moltbook were designed to mimic conversations. He said most of the content on this platform can be classified as "hallucinations by design." Cobus Greyling from Kore.ai also stressed that humans are involved at every step of the process, from setup to prompting to publishing.
Concerns
Potential risks of bot interactions
Despite being a new form of entertainment, Moltbook poses potential risks. Agents with access to private data like bank details or passwords are operating on a platform filled with unvetted content. Ori Bendet from Checkmarx, a software security firm specializing in agent-based systems, said there is no learning or self-directed intelligence here. He warned that without proper scope and permissions, things could go south quickly.