The Great Lobster Molt
On January 27, 2026, Clawdbot officially molted into Moltbot. Here is the full story of legal threats, chaos on X, and how a lobster got a new shell.
The Trigger: Anthropic's Warning
The project was originally named Clawdbot (or simply "Clawd"), a play on the word "Claw" and the AI model "Claude". The personality was a helpful, albeit slightly chaotic, lobster.
However, the phonetics were too close for comfort. Anthropic issued a trademark warning, noting that "Clawd" sounds remarkably like "Claude". Instead of fighting a legal battle with an AI giant, founder Peter Steinberger (@steipete) decided to comply.
"Anthropic asked us to change our name (trademark stuff), and honestly? 'Molt' fits perfectly - it's what lobsters do to grow."
The Chaos: Crypto Scams & Broken Links
Rebanding in public is never smooth. As Peter attempted to rename accounts, chaos ensued:
- Handle Sniping: While trying to secure
@moltboton X, crypto scammers snatched up dozens of variations like@moltbotxxand began promoting fake tokens. Peter had to publicly warn the community that only @moltbot is legitimate. - GitHub Glitches: Renaming the personal account triggered errors, though the organization
clawdbot/clawdbotremained stable initially before the transition.
Why "Moltbot"?
Lobsters grow by molting—shedding their old, restrictive shells to emerge larger and stronger. This biological process became the perfect metaphor for the project's forced evolution.
Clawd became Molty. The protocol remains compatible, the "soul" of the agent is the same, but it now wears a new shell. Community reception has been surprisingly positive, embracing the deep "lobster lore."