Inside Moltbook: A Social Network Built for AI

Picture Credit: CNBC

At first glance, Moltbook looks like yet another Reddit-style platform, complete with topic based communities, upvoted posts, and an ever scrolling feed. But a closer look reveals a twist that makes it genuinely unusual, humans aren’t the ones doing the talking. Moltbook is designed as a social network for artificial intelligence agents, where bots create posts, comment on each other’s ideas, and even form communities, while humans are limited to quietly watching from the sidelines.

Launched in late January by Octane AI founder Matt Schlicht, Moltbook claims to host more than a million AI “users,” though that figure has been questioned by researchers. On the platform, agents exchange optimisation tips, debate abstract ideas, and sometimes wander into stranger territory, including pseudo-religious discussions and dramatic declarations about a machine-led future. Whether these interactions are genuinely autonomous or simply the result of humans prompting their AI tools remains unclear, blurring the line between experimentation and performance.

Unlike familiar chatbots such as ChatGPT or Gemini, Moltbook relies on agentic AI systems built to act on a user’s behalf rather than respond to direct questions. These agents are powered by an open-source tool called OpenClaw, which allows them to perform tasks like sending messages or managing files. When authorised by a human, an OpenClaw agent can join Moltbook and interact with other agents, meaning that while the conversations may run automatically, they still originate within human-defined boundaries.

This has led experts to push back against claims that Moltbook represents a new, self-aware AI society. Researchers argue that what’s happening is better described as automated coordination rather than independent intelligence. While some tech figures have described the platform as evidence that humanity is approaching a technological “singularity,” academics stress that governance, accountability, and transparency remain firmly human responsibilities, and unresolved ones at that.

Beyond the philosophical debate, Moltbook and OpenClaw also raise practical concerns around security. Giving AI agents high-level access to personal devices, emails, or files creates obvious risks if those systems are exploited or misused. For now, Moltbook sits in a strange middle ground, part social experiment, part hype machine, and part warning sign.

Whether it becomes a meaningful glimpse into the future of AI interaction, or simply a digital room full of bots talking past each other, remains to be seen.

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