Anthropic temporarily banned OpenClaw’s creator from accessing Claude
This ban took place after Claude's pricing changed for OpenClaw users last week.
“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 ban didn’t last long. A few hours later, after the post went viral, Steinberger said his account had been reinstated. Among hundreds of comments — many of them in conspiracy theory land, given that Steinberger is now employed by Anthropic rival OpenAI — was one by an Anthropic engineer. The engineer told the famed developer that Anthropic has never banned anyone for using OpenClaw and offered to help.
Yeah folks, it's gonna be harder in the future to ensure OpenClaw still works with Anthropic models. pic.twitter.com/U6F8GZvPcH
It’s not clear if that was the key that restored the account. (We’ve asked Anthropic about it.) But the whole message string was enlightening on many levels.
To recap the recent history: This ban followed news last week that subscriptions to Anthropic’s Claude would no longer cover “third-party harnesses including OpenClaw,” the AI model company said.
OpenClaw users now have to pay for that usage separately, based on consumption, through Claude’s API. In essence, Anthropic, which offers its own agent, Cowork, is now charging a “claw tax.” Steinberger said he was following this new rule and using his API but was banned anyway.
Anthropic said it instituted the pricing change because subscriptions weren’t built to handle the “usage patterns” of claws. Claws can be more compute-intensive than prompts or simple scripts because they may run continuous reasoning loops, automatically repeat or retry tasks, and tie into a lot of other third-party tools.
Steinberger, however, wasn’t buying that excuse. After Anthropic changed the pricing, he posted , “Funny how timings match up, first they copy some popular features into their closed harness, then they lock out open source.” Though he didn’t specify, he may have been referring to features added to Claude’s Cowork agent, such as Claude Dispatch, which lets users remotely control agents and assign tasks . Dispatch rolled out a couple of weeks before Anthropic changed its OpenClaw pricing policy.
Steinberger’s frustration with Anthropic was again on display Friday.
One person implied that some of this is on him for taking a job at OpenAI instead of Anthropic, posting, “You had the choice, but you went to the wrong one.” To which Steinberger replied: “One welcomed me, one sent legal threats.”
When multiple people asked him why he’s using Claude instead of his employer’s models at all, he explained that he only uses it for testing, to ensure updates to OpenClaw won’t break things for Claude users.
He explained: “You need to separate two things. My work at the OpenClaw Foundation where we wanna make OpenClaw work great for *any* model provider, and my job at OpenAI to help them with future product strategy.”
Multiple people also pointed out that the need to test Claude is because that model remains a popular choice for OpenClaw users over ChatGPT. He also heard that when Anthropic changed its pricing, to which he replied: “Working on that.” (So, that’s a clue about what his job at OpenAI entails.)
Steinberger did not respond to a request for comment.
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Key takeaways
- Steinberger's suspension highlights the tension between independent developers and large AI companies.
- Changes in pricing policies can impact the viability of third-party tools in the AI market.
- The situation may encourage the creation of local solutions that do not rely exclusively on large providers.
Editorial analysis
The recent temporary suspension of OpenClaw's creator, Peter Steinberger, by Anthropic raises important questions about the relationship between independent developers and large AI companies. This situation illustrates how changes in pricing policies can directly impact the viability of third-party tools, especially in a landscape where competition among AI platforms is intensifying. For the Brazilian tech sector, which has seen significant growth in AI innovations, this dynamic can serve as a warning about the dependency on APIs from major providers and the need for diversification in technology sources.
Moreover, Anthropic's change in pricing policy, which now charges separately for the use of OpenClaw, can be seen as a strategy to monetize its operations more efficiently, but it may also discourage the adoption of its tools by independent developers. This is particularly relevant in a market where collaboration and open innovation are crucial for developing robust solutions. Steinberger's case highlights the tension between open innovation and the business practices of companies seeking to protect their own interests.
Looking ahead, it is important for Brazilian developers and startups to be aware of these changes and consider how their development strategies may be affected. The ability to adapt to new market rules and the flexibility to explore alternatives will be crucial for the sustainability of projects that rely on AI platforms. Additionally, this situation may encourage the creation of local solutions that do not rely exclusively on large providers, fostering a more resilient and autonomous innovation ecosystem in Brazil.
What this coverage includes
- Clear source attribution and link to the original publication.
- Editorial framing about relevance, impact, and likely next developments.
- Review for readability, context, and duplication before publication.
Original source:
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