Meta’s artificial intelligence assistant Muse was built from scratch, but its product design was heavily inspired by the open-source agent OpenClaw, according to Nat Friedman, head of product at Meta’s Superintelligence Labs.
Sarah Perez reports for TechCrunch that Friedman addressed growing comparisons between the two tools after users identified similarly named configuration files and closely matching content in their AI workspaces.
Muse has drawn attention as a consumer-focused AI agent that can help users carry out tasks. Some early users suggested it was essentially OpenClaw behind a more accessible interface. One viral post described Muse as “OpenClaw for normies,” prompting Friedman to respond publicly.
Friedman said members of Meta’s AI team had become enthusiastic users of OpenClaw and other personal AI agents. He said Meta’s goal was to create a comparable product that could be made secure, simple to use, and capable of serving a much larger audience.
The similarities noted by users went beyond general features. They included a file named SOUL.md, a Markdown document that can define an AI agent’s personality, communication style, rules, and areas of expertise. Users also reported that the contents of Muse’s file closely resembled OpenClaw’s version.
Friedman did not dispute those observations. Asked why Meta used matching file names and near-identical content, he said OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger had “got those things exactly right.”
The episode highlights a recurring issue in the fast-moving AI market: companies can independently build software while borrowing interaction patterns, product structures, and conventions from successful open-source projects. Meta has offered no further comment beyond Friedman’s statement.
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