In This Article
Introduction
Peter Steinberger is an Austrian software engineer best known for founding PSPDFKit — a PDF rendering company used by Fortune 500 companies. He built the first version of OpenClaw in a weekend, frustrated by the UX of existing AI tools. That weekend project became the most significant agentic infrastructure of 2026. In February 2026, he joined OpenAI to lead next-generation personal agents.
Steinberger's trajectory — successful enterprise founder → viral open-source creator → frontier AI lab lead — is unusual. Most founders don't pivot from B2B SaaS to agentic AI. Most weekend projects don't hit 100K GitHub stars. This article traces his path and what it means for OpenClaw. See Peter Steinberger for the full profile.
PSPDFKit: The First Act
PSPDFKit provides PDF SDKs for web, mobile, and server. Used by Dropbox, DocuSign, and hundreds of enterprises. Steinberger built it from scratch, scaled it, and established a reputation for technical excellence. That background informed OpenClaw: ship fast, but build for real use.
PSPDFKit is a developer tools company. Its customers integrate PDF rendering into their applications. The product is technical, the sales cycle is enterprise, the quality bar is high. Steinberger learned to ship software that works at scale. He also learned to run a business — funding, hiring, growth. When he built OpenClaw, he wasn't a hobbyist. He was a seasoned founder with a track record.
Key PSPDFKit lessons that carried over: (1) Developer experience matters. OpenClaw's config files, memory structure, and documentation reflect someone who understands how developers work. (2) Enterprise readiness takes time. OpenClaw's maturation phase — security, governance — mirrors what PSPDFKit went through. (3) Open source can drive adoption. PSPDFKit has open-source components; OpenClaw went full open. The playbook was there.
OpenClaw: The Weekend Project
Weekend project: WhatsApp Relay. Viral growth. Rebrands. 100K stars. Foundation. Steinberger's ability to ship and iterate — honed at PSPDFKit — drove OpenClaw's velocity. One person, one weekend, global impact.
The WhatsApp Relay was a side project. Steinberger wasn't trying to build a platform. He wanted AI in his messaging apps. He built it. It worked. He posted it. The rest was organic. The contrast with PSPDFKit is stark: PSPDFKit took years to reach enterprise customers. OpenClaw hit 100K stars in a week. The difference: distribution. Open source + viral loop + timing. See WhatsApp Relay origins.
OpenAI: The Third Act
February 2026: Steinberger joins OpenAI. Leads personal agent development. OpenClaw remains in Foundation; he maintains it while building OpenAI's agent strategy. The acqui-hire validated the agentic paradigm.
OpenAI didn't acquire OpenClaw. It acquired Steinberger. The project went to the Foundation. The structure preserved the open-source commons while giving Steinberger resources to build the next generation of personal agents. At OpenAI, he likely draws on OpenClaw's architecture, community insights, and real-world deployment experience. The Foundation continues; the creator accelerates. See OpenAI acqui-hire.
The Trajectory
PSPDFKit → OpenClaw → OpenAI. Enterprise founder → open-source creator → frontier lab lead. The through-line: shipping software that people use. Steinberger has now built in three modes: commercial, open-source, and institutional. Few founders have that range.
Wrapping Up
Steinberger's trajectory: PSPDFKit → OpenClaw → OpenAI. Each step built on the last. See Peter Steinberger, OpenAI acqui-hire, and Foundation.