Meta's product lead for the Super Intelligence Lab, Nat Friedman, confirmed that the Muse AI project was heavily inspired by the open-source project OpenClaw. Friedman stated that while the team built Muse from scratch, they aimed to create a product that mirrors the functionality of OpenClaw while scaling to billions of users.
The discussion emerged after users noted striking similarities between the two systems, including identical filenames like SOUL.md, which defines an AI agent's personality and behavior. Friedman acknowledged that the team admired the work of OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger, noting that the configuration files were intentionally modeled after his framework.
Friedman, who joined Meta alongside Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang, revealed that the team began experimenting with OpenClaw in January, purchasing hundreds of Mac mini units for the lab. This approach aligns with Meta's historical strategy of identifying successful product features and adapting them for broader consumer use.
Muse has demonstrated significant market traction, recently reaching the top spot on the US App Store for free applications. Current data indicates that Muse is experiencing a faster early growth rate on mobile platforms compared to the initial launch performance of ChatGPT.
