Moltbot, formerly known as "Clawdbot", is an open source AI assistant that has rapidly exceeded 69,000 stars on GitHub in just one month. This makes it one of the fastest-growing AI projects of 2026.

Functionality and Ambitions

Created by Austrian developer Peter Steinberger, Moltbot allows users to manage a personal AI assistant and control it through the messaging apps they already use. The assistant supports platforms such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, Google Chat, Signal, iMessage, and Microsoft Teams. It can send reminders, alerts, or morning briefings based on calendar events or other triggers, emulating the proactive capabilities of Jarvis, the AI assistant from the Iron Man films.

Limitations and Risks

Despite its potential, Moltbot has limitations. Although the assistant code runs locally, it requires a subscription to Anthropic or OpenAI for access to the most performant language models. It is possible to use local AI models, but their effectiveness in carrying out tasks is currently lower than that of commercial models. Claude Opus 4.5, Anthropic's flagship large language model (LLM), is a popular choice among users. Using Moltbot, in its current configuration, carries serious security risks.

For those evaluating on-premise deployments, there are trade-offs to consider carefully. AI-RADAR offers analytical frameworks on /llm-onpremise to support this decision-making process.