Meta Says Muse Was Built From Scratch, Inspired by OpenClaw

Meta product executive Nat Friedman said Muse was built from scratch but was heavily inspired by OpenClaw, an open-source AI agent project, after users raised comparisons between the products’ workspace files. Friedman’s comments, posted on X, acknowledged the influence while distinguishing it from building Muse directly on OpenClaw. Friedman, head of product at Meta Superintelligence Labs, said his team had used OpenClaw and wanted to create a similar product that Meta could make safe, secure and easier to use at large scale. He said he used OpenClaw in January and that members of his team became enthusiastic about it. He also praised its creator, Peter Steinberger, and described the project’s agent framework, or harness, as pioneering. The discussion followed comparisons shared online by users, including AI app cofounder Ansh Nanda. Users reported that Muse had workspace filenames matching OpenClaw’s and a SOUL.md file with nearly identical content. SOUL.md is a configuration file used to specify an agent’s personality and behavior.