Clawdbot creator says Anthropic 'forced' him to rename the viral AI agent: 'Wasn't my decision'

The widely recognized AI agent known as Clawdbot has undergone a significant rebranding, now called Moltbot, a change prompted by trademark issues with its original name. Initially named after the creature users encounter while reloading Claude Code, the rebranding was catalyzed by a request from Anthropic, the company behind Claude Code. In a post on X, the newly named Moltbot shared, "Anthropic asked us to change our name. 'Molt' fits perfectly - it's what lobsters do to grow." However, Peter Steinberger, the creator of the AI, expressed frustration on his own X account, stating, "I was forced to rename the account by Anthropic. Wasn't my decision." Despite the name change, Moltbot will continue to function as a free and open-source AI agent, capable of tasks ranging from making dinner reservations to managing vibe-coding sessions. The mascot has also been updated to Molty, moving away from the original Clawdbot branding, which was created in June 2024. Steinberger had initially believed the name Clawdbot was legally sound, stating, "I looked it up. There's no trademark for this." The name change has sparked discontent among crypto traders, particularly due to the existence of an unrelated meme coin named "Clawd." Following the announcement, Steinberger urged crypto enthusiasts to cease their harassment, claiming it was detrimental to the project. In a troubling turn, Steinberger reported that his personal GitHub account was briefly compromised by crypto scammers, although the Moltbot account itself remained secure. Some supporters of Moltbot expressed their dissatisfaction with the name change, with one engineer even tagging Anthropic's CEO, Dario Amodei, in a post asking, "Do you hate success?" This incident is not isolated, as the AI industry has seen its share of trademark-related changes. Earlier this year, OpenAI removed references to a collaboration with designer Jonny Ive after a dispute with the AI hardware startup iyO over the name of its company. Additionally, a lawsuit from Cameo led OpenAI to rename a feature on its Sora app. The landscape of AI is ever-evolving, with trademark issues often leading to significant shifts in branding and identity.