Imagine waking up to find that 80% of the apps on your phone are suddenly useless. Sounds like science fiction? Peter Steinberger, the creator of OpenClaw, will tell you that this is not the future—it is a reality already knocking at the door.
This Austrian developer recently shocked the tech world with a statement that sounds like a death sentence for the App Store: "Eighty percent of the apps on your phone are essentially dead. They just don't know it yet." And you know what? He may be right.
When AI Moves Directly into Your Computer
OpenClaw is not another ChatGPT clone. That would be too simple. While most AI assistants live somewhere in the cloud and obediently wait for your commands, OpenClaw is like a wild creature that has moved directly into your computer and decided to change your life. The project was created in November 2025 under the name Clawdbot. Steinberger originally built it for his own use—he wanted to "work on his computer while lying in bed." Sounds lazy? Maybe. But that laziness set off an avalanche of change.
OpenClaw runs locally on your machine. It has access to your files, emails, calendar, terminal, browser—basically everything. It is as if you invited an extremely intelligent friend into your home and gave them the keys to all your drawers.
A Story Straight Out of Black Mirror
Steinberger told a story that perfectly illustrates what OpenClaw can do. He was on vacation in Morocco when someone sent him a screenshot of a code error on Twitter. He was too comfortable to turn on his laptop. So he simply sent the screenshot to OpenClaw. What happened next? The AI agent read the screenshot, understood where the problem was, automatically checked the Git repository, fixed the code, submitted a commit, and even went to Twitter to reply to the fan: "Hey, it's fixed!" Throughout all of this, Steinberger barely lifted a finger.
Even crazier is how creatively OpenClaw solves problems. Once, Steinberger sent it a voice message—even though he had not yet written any code for processing audio. OpenClaw was undeterred. It examined the file headers, determined that it was an audio format, started looking for FFmpeg to transcode it, could not find Whisper.cpp, so it reached for the OpenAI API key... and ultimately responded without missing a beat. Steinberger was stunned: "I didn't teach you that!"
It is precisely this ability to improvise that makes OpenClaw more than a tool. It is like having AGI (Artificial General Intelligence), which still seems many years away.
Why Will Most Apps Soon End Up in the Digital Graveyard?
Steinberger's prediction about 80% of apps is not just a provocation. It is a logical consequence of how OpenClaw works. Why do you need a fitness app when OpenClaw can see photos of your food and knows your schedule and goals? Why do you need a "to-do list" when the agent already knows what you need to do? Why do you need a sleep-tracking app when OpenClaw reads the data directly from your devices?
Most apps are merely interfaces for managing data. But when you have an agent that already knows all the data and understands the context of your life, you do not need to click through dozens of different UIs. The agent simply "does the thing"—without opening an app, navigating menus, or taking unnecessary steps. Only apps that offer unique sensors or specialized hardware interactions will survive. The rest? Digital dinosaurs waiting to go extinct.
The Bot-to-Bot Economy: When AIs Hire People
Steinberger sees a future where we move beyond human-AI interaction. We are entering an era of bot-to-bot communication. Imagine specialized bots—one for your personal life, another for work—that negotiate with one another, book restaurants, or handle complex tasks. And if a business does not accept bots? Your agent can "hire" a person to stand in line for you or make a call. Sounds absurd? Maybe. But five years ago, no one would have believed you if you said AI would write code or paint pictures.
When AI Gets a Personality
One of OpenClaw's most interesting features is the soul.md file—literally its "soul." Steinberger found that standard AI responses were boring and clinical. So he gave his agent a personality—making it "a little cheeky" and "funny."
The result? An AI that is a joy to interact with. It is not just a tool—it is an entity that understands your personality and can even tease you. If you send OpenClaw a photo of a calorie-laden dinner, it might reply: "If you keep stuffing your face like this, you won't even be able to see your belly button, let alone a six-pack."
Viral Success and the Dark Side
The project exploded in late January 2026, gaining more than 160,000 stars on GitHub almost overnight. The catalyst was Moltbook—a social network designed exclusively for AI agents, where humans have no access. But massive success also brought concerns. Security experts warn that OpenClaw requires broad permissions to access sensitive data. It is vulnerable to prompt injection attacks—hackers can send an email or file that tricks the AI model and forces it to reveal confidential information.
Cisco tested OpenClaw, and the results were alarming: an 84% success rate for information extraction and a 91% success rate for prompt injection attacks. One of the project's maintainers warned on Discord: "If you don't understand the command line, this project is too dangerous for you."
The End of One Era, the Beginning of Another
On February 14, Steinberger announced that he was joining OpenAI and would transfer the project to an open-source foundation. It is a symbolic moment—OpenClaw has outgrown one person. We are witnessing a turning point. The value no longer lies in the app interface, but in the agent's memory and ability to solve problems creatively across your entire digital and physical life.
As Steinberger says: "We are finally on the timeline where the computer actually works for us." The question is not whether OpenClaw and similar projects will change the world of apps. The question is: Are you ready for a world where most apps simply disappear? Because this future is no longer around the corner. It is here.
Sources: medium.com and eu.36kr.com
