Anthropic temporarily banned OpenClaw’s creator from accessing Claude

Incident Overview

Peter Steinberger, known for developing OpenClaw, reported on X that his Anthropic account was suspended unexpectedly for "suspicious activity." He shared a screenshot of the suspension notice and expressed concern for OpenClaw’s future compatibility with Anthropic models. Shortly after his post attracted widespread attention, Anthropic restored his access within hours.

Community and Company Responses

The quick reversal prompted speculation about the true reason for the ban, especially since Steinberger now works for OpenAI, a competitor to Anthropic. An Anthropic engineer responded to the situation online, stating that bans for using OpenClaw are not standard practice and offered to assist Steinberger with any issues.

Background Context

The suspension happened just days after Anthropic updated its policy to charge separately for using third-party tools like OpenClaw through its Claude API. Previously, such access was covered by a standard subscription. The change came as Anthropic cited technical concerns about the increased resource use of these third-party harnesses, which can require more compute power due to their continuous operations and integrations with external tools.

Steinberger was vocal in questioning these changes, hinting that Anthropic’s own product updates may have borrowed features from OpenClaw before restricting open-source access. The tension appears rooted in both business competition and technical limits.

Steinberger’s Perspective

Despite his new role at OpenAI, Steinberger maintained that ongoing Claude tests are essential for OpenClaw development, ensuring compatibility for all users, not just those on OpenAI’s platforms. He distinguished his neutral foundation work from his employer's interests, reaffirming OpenClaw’s open approach.

Conclusion

While Steinberger’s account was reinstated, the episode underlines challenges facing developers working with proprietary AI platforms, especially as pricing and feature access become more tightly controlled.

For further details, read the original article by Julie Bort on TechCrunch.