korrents
Peter Steinberger

What Peter Steinberger thinks about open source

@peter-steinberger · 51 positions · 0 changes of mind

Founded PSPDFKit in 2011 and ran it for a decade. Came back from a break to work on AI agents — the OpenClaw project, and OpenAI, joined in February 2026. Writes at steipete.me.

Everything they publish, on ppll ↗

Peter Steinberger did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

6 dated positions, 2026, in their own words. Our reading of what Peter Steinberger has said — not written or endorsed by them.

  1. Our readingUsers like security in the abstract and experience it as breakage: hardening the project made things slower, harder to update, and broke what people depended on.

    Their wordsSure, they they like the abstract term of security, but in all practical terms, they updated. I broke something they depended on. I made things slower and I made things more difficult to update.

    ↗Peter Steinberger: "Fun Is Velocity"youtube.com 4th of 22 in this recording

    Interesting

  3. Our readingEvery lab will sell you an agent, so the case for an open-source one is that it runs anywhere, works with any model, and can keep your data on your own device.

    Their wordsEvery lab will sell you an agent. Open claw is the alternative. Open source runs everywhere, works with any model. And if you run local models, your data never has to leave your device.

    ↗Peter Steinberger: "Fun Is Velocity"youtube.com 10th of 22 in this recording

    Interesting

  5. Our readingMost security reports an open-source project receives are agent-generated and untested, and the defence is publishing what you guarantee and what lies outside your security boundary.

    Their wordsAnd most of them really sent reports that their agent produced without actually even testing it. I would I would take a stronger sense of explaining what are the parts that we guarantee and what are the parts that will not be fixed because that that's not our security boundary.

    ↗Peter Steinberger: "Fun Is Velocity"youtube.com 16th of 22 in this recording

    Interesting
  6. 6 months earlier

  7. Our readingTurning a breakout open-source project into a company would be the wrong move -- joining a lab reaches everyone faster than building another large company.

    Their wordsYes, I could totally see how OpenClaw could become a huge company. And no, it’s not really exciting for me. I’m a builder at heart. I did the whole creating-a-company game already, poured 13 years of my life into it and learned a lot. What I want is to change the world, not build a large company and teaming up with OpenAI is the fastest way to bring this to everyone.

    ↗OpenClaw, OpenAI and the futuresteipete.me

    OpenAI

    Interesting
  8. 2 days earlier

  9. Our readingEvery first pull request someone sends, however bad, is a win for society.

    Their wordsBut I don't want to, like, pull that down because every time someone made the first pull request is a win for our society, you know? Like, it… Like, it doesn't matter how, how shitty it is, y- you gotta start somewhere.

    ↗OpenClaw: The Viral AI Agent that Broke the Internet - Peter Steinberger | Lex Fridman Podcast #491youtube.com 2nd of 30 in this recording

    Interesting

  11. Our readingThis is the year of personal agents, and the fastest way to get one to everyone is to team up with a lab, on condition the project stays open source.

    Their wordsBut also, I'm very excited to, like, make this into a version that I can get to a lot of people because I think this is the year of personal agents, and that's the future. And the fastest way to do that is teaming up with one of the labs.

    ↗OpenClaw: The Viral AI Agent that Broke the Internet - Peter Steinberger | Lex Fridman Podcast #491youtube.com 18th of 30 in this recording

    Interesting