Meta just bought the social network for AI bots everyone’s been talking about

By Hadas Gold, CNN

(CNN) — Meta, the company behind some of the world’s most popular social media platforms, just scooped up a new site – for bots.

Meta has acquired Moltbook, the social media network where AI agents interact with one another autonomously, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

Meta is competing with rivals like OpenAI for both talent and users’ attention. And as AI expands into more aspects of Americans’ lives, tech companies are trying to figure out the best way to position themselves to win what’s becoming a sort of technological arms race.

Moltbook became the talk of Silicon Valley last month, racking up millions of registered bots within days of its launch. Some in the industry saw it as a major leap because it demonstrated what can happen when AI agents socialize with one another like humans. Others said the site is full of sham agents, AI slop and security risks and should be viewed skeptically.

Meta’s acquisition comes weeks after OpenAI hired the founder of the technology behind Moltbook, an AI agent system called OpenClaw. Moltbook’s team will join Meta’s superintelligence labs. A Meta spokesperson said Moltbook’s approach “opens up new ways for AI agents to work for people and businesses.”

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman dismissed the excitement over Moltbook last month, suggesting OpenClaw, the open-source autonomous AI agent that powers the site’s bots, was the real breakthrough. Altman wrote that he expects the technology to become “core” to OpenAI’s products.

Meta acquired the buzzy AI agent startup Manus in December, following a string of high-profile hires intended to build out its superintelligence team. The company also invested $14.3 billion in Scale AI last year and hired its CEO.

But Meta, like some of its Big Tech peers, is facing pressure to prove its AI investments will make money, especially as rivals like OpenAI, Anthropic and Google churn out new and improved models for their chatbots. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on a January earnings call the company will release its new AI models “over the coming months.”

The-CNN-Wire
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