OpenClaw Developer Faces Account Suspension Amid Anthropic Controversy
“Yeah folks, it’s gonna be harder in the future to ensure OpenClaw still works with Anthropic models,” OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger posted on X early Friday morning, along with a photo of a message from Anthropic saying his account had been suspended over “suspicious” activity.
The suspension was short-lived. A few hours later, after his post gained traction, Steinberger announced his account had been reinstated. The comments following his tweet included many conspiracy theories, largely due to Steinberger’s current position with OpenAI, a competitor of Anthropic. In the midst of the chatter, an engineer from Anthropic reached out, stating that the company has never blocked anyone for utilizing OpenClaw and expressed willingness to assist.
It remains uncertain if that interaction played a role in the account’s restoration. (We’ve reached out to Anthropic for clarification.) However, the exchange did highlight key issues within the ongoing situation.
To set the context: This suspension followed an announcement from Anthropic, stating that subscriptions for Anthropic’s Claude would no longer support third-party tools like OpenClaw. Now, users of OpenClaw will have to pay separately based on usage through Claude’s API. Essentially, Anthropic is imposing what Steinberger has dubbed a “claw tax.” Despite following this new directive, Steinberger found himself banned regardless.
According to Anthropic, the change in pricing was introduced because existing subscriptions weren’t designed to accommodate the “usage patterns” associated with claws. These tools can be more resource-intensive than simple commands, often requiring advanced reasoning loops and integration with other external tools.
Steinberger, however, has expressed skepticism regarding this justification. He noted in a post, “Funny how timings match up, first they copy some popular features into their closed harness, then they lock out open source.” While he did not elaborate, this appears linked to features added to Claude’s Cowork agent, including Claude Dispatch, which allows users to control agents remotely. This feature was introduced shortly before the pricing alteration for OpenClaw was announced.
Steinberger’s discontent with Anthropic was evident again on Friday.
In response to a comment suggesting he should have chosen Anthropic instead of OpenAI, he simply stated: “One welcomed me, one sent legal threats.”
Ouch.
When questioned why he uses Claude instead of the models from his current employer, he mentioned that it’s simply for testing purposes, ensuring that any updates made to OpenClaw do not adversely impact users of Claude.
He clarified: “You need to separate two things. My work at the OpenClaw Foundation is aimed at making OpenClaw function optimally for *any* model provider, while my role at OpenAI focuses on supporting their future product strategies.”
Others pointed out that Claude remains a preferred choice for OpenClaw users, leading to Steinberger acknowledging the pricing changes, to which he quipped: “Working on that.” This response hints at the nature of his responsibilities at OpenAI.
Steinberger did not reply to a request for comment.
The unfolding drama surrounding OpenClaw and Anthropic offers a glimpse into the intense competition in the AI sector. It underscores the challenges open-source developers face in navigating business decisions from larger firms while maintaining user trust and product functionality. As companies continue to innovate and protect their proprietary technologies, the future of collaborative tools like OpenClaw may be at stake.
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