OpenClaw creator cites European rules as he moves to the US

Peter Steinberger, the creator of the agentic AI OpenClaw, has been hired by OpenAI and is moving from Europe to the US. An Austrian by birth, he previously split his time between London and Vienna. On X, responding to a European professor's question about retaining tech talent, he said most people in the US are enthusiastic while in Europe he is scolded about responsibility and regulations.

He added that strict labor regulations and similar rules would make it difficult for him to build a company in Europe. Steinberger said that at OpenAI most employees work 6 to 7 days a week and are paid accordingly, a practice he said would be illegal in Europe.

A 2024 EU report found the region had fallen behind the US in innovation and proposed changes that, by the end of 2025, had seen few implementations. The most valuable company in Europe is Dutch chip-equipment maker ASML, valued at about $550 billion, while there are 10 US companies worth more than $1 trillion, most of them tech firms.

United States, London, Vienna

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