challenged Archives - usatoday24

OpenClaw is the total AI agent that challenged Big Tech. Big Tech’s response: buy it, of course

February 16, 2026 by usatoday24

Peter Steinberger It was a great unknown to the vast majority of the planet until less than a month ago. His project, which he initially called Clawdbot (later Moltbot and finally OpenClaw), became the new sensation of the internet and the world of AI. Its growth has been so spectacular that the majors in this segment set their eyes on it and, inevitably, began to fight to sign its creator and acquire his project. We already have a winner of that bid: OpenAI. What is OpenClaw. OpenClaw is what we could define as “the total AI agent.” A system that uses one or more AI models such as those from OpenAI, Anthropic or Google to do things for you. Here are some differences from using those models in a “traditional” way: You can chat with your AI agent using messaging apps like Telegram or WhatsApp, as if it were just another contact OpenClaw takes full control of the machine you install it on, whether it’s an old PC, a Raspberry Pi or a VPS, for example. You have permission to do whatever you want inside that machine, which also involves risks The capacity of current models, such as Opus 4.5, makes the agent certainly autonomous and proactive and, for example, suggests things to you or makes decisions based on the conversations you have with him? she? it? OpenAI buys OpenClaw. Last week Steinberger I already commented in an interview with Lex Fridman that OpenAI and Meta had made offers to sign him and acquire his project. Those intentions crystallized on Saturday, when the creator of OpenClaw advertisement that he had signed with OpenAI and that the OpenClaw project “will become managed by a foundation and will remain open and independent.” It was a more than reasonable exit for Steinberger, who will probably have received a significant sum of money and prestige, but that leads us to the eternal question: can you compete with the big companies? Short answer: probably not. Large companies have always been hampered by their own size when it comes to reacting quickly to new trends, and even the largest AI companies suffer from this same problem. OpenClaw was doing something that none of them had dared to do – partly because this type of agent has too much “power” – but with these projects and with startups that are beginning to emerge, the same thing always happens: either the big companies copy the idea and they end up burying the originalor they buy that startup that threatened to compete with them. For many startups, in fact, the “exit” or future strategy of the project happens to be bought by a large company. A creator who didn’t want to be CEO. Steinberger explained in his post how his project opened up “an endless string of possibilities” for him, and confessed that “yes, I could really see that OpenClaw could have become a giant company. But no, I’m not excited about that. I’m a creator at heart.” Steinberger has already created a company and dedicated 13 years of his life to it, and “what I want is to change the world, not create a big company, and partnering with OpenAI is the fastest way to bring this to the entire world.” One person’s first unicorn? The appearance of ChatGPT soon made will be spoken of the ‘Solo Unicorn’ phenomenon, a startup created by a single person and which, thanks to AI, would be valued at more than 1 billion dollars. We do not know what price OpenAI has paid for this signing, but it is likely that it will not reach that much. What does seem evident is that OpenClaw was the type of project and idea that certainly could have turned it into that “Solo Unicorn”. The era of custom AI agents. Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, confirmed the news in X. There it indicated that the creator of OpenClaw had joined OpenAI “to lead the next generation of personal agents”, and highlighted that “we expect this (personalized AI agents) to quickly become an integral part of our product offerings.” In addition, he assured that OpenClaw will remain open source, something that was probably one of the essential conditions that Steinberger set to join the ranks of OpenAI. And now what. That the project remains Open Source and independent is great news and theoretically that will allow OpenClaw to continue functioning as before, but having OpenAI’s resources can undoubtedly make it grow exceptionally. It remains to be seen whether that will end up having a negative impact in any way, but what also seems clear is that these types of “full AI agents” could soon also be an integral part of the offering of other AI companies. Welcome to the era of total AI agents. We had already partially seen what OpenClaw does with projects like Computer Use from Anthropic, Project Jarvis/Mariner by DeepM Mind u Operator from OpenAI itself. Both allowed AI would do things for us in the browser, but OpenClaw does things for us with all the applications on the machine on which we install it (the email client, the command console, etc.). We are facing an interesting stage for this type of systems. In Xataka | OpenClaw is one of the most fascinating and “dangerous” AIs of the moment. A Malaga company has come to the rescue

The Mexican canoes that challenged Spanish brigs

March 13, 2025 by usatoday24

The big cities of the past are the foundations of many current cities. And a perfect example of this is Mexico City. In pre -Columbian era the territory that now occupies was dominated by two prosperous cities: Tlatelolco and Tenochtitlan. They were the so -called ‘twin cities’, and something they had in common was a Powerful and developed channel systeman advanced hydraulic and, above all, a domain of waters thanks to nautical technology. This technology was underestimated by the Spanish invaders and led the Mexica to the maximum audacity: face their canoes against the elderly and well armed Spanish brigs. Tlatelolco and Tenochtitlan. To talk about this story, we must understand the situation of the cities. Tenochtitlan was founded in 1325 by the Mexica. Was “The American Venice”, But the Tenochcas and the Tlatelolcas separated and, near there, founded Tlatelolco. Each had their culture, but there were elements that shared, as a strategic location to be isolated and protected naturally by lakes. The way the two societies had contact with the outside, and they had it, was through a sophisticated Ports and channel system. Channels. In recent years we have learned more about this channel system, when finding ports and new ‘streets’ that allowed both Tenochcas and Tlatelolcas to have an exit to the sea. This favored trade with other cultures, as well as a accelerated nautical developmentbecause its subsistence depended on this technology. Two canoe models. It was something that caught attention, because Asian and European civilizations are known for their maritime history, not the Mesoamerican. However, that need was what allowed The rapid lake development of the Mexica, having Two types of boats as a banner for civil, commercial and military activities. On the one hand, the rafts. They were built through the use of flat surfaces that could float. The most common thing was to use thin trunks that joined each other with natural fiber networks. They served to float, transport people and goods … and you couldn’t ask for much more. It is the image of ‘raft’ that we all have in our heads, go. Monoxila Canoa Example The second guy was a monoxy canoe. These were directly carved into a tree trunk, using fire to facilitate the process of ahuecamiento and, in addition, the bow had an sharp shape that allowed not only a higher speed, but an advanced maneuverability. They had about eight oars and surprised the Spaniards thanks a very intelligent mexic maneuver. Chapopote. The monoxilated canoes were made by trunks of Ahuehuete, Ceiba or Pino and, once carved and hardened thanks to the fire, they were smeared with an oil residue known as Chapopote/Chapaote. This caused the canoes to move like fish in the water, since they were waterproof and improved their benefits in the waters. So much that surprisedeven to the Spaniards. “They are not ships that depart a lot from land, because as they are low, they cannot suffer large sea. And with all that they are safer these canoes than our boats and canoes even if they flood and swell with water, they do not go to the ground or sink, and remain oversupply. No boat walks as much as the canoe, although the canoe goes with eight oars and the boat with twelve, ”wrote the Spanish Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedopraising these canoes. And an example of bergantin Canoas vs bergantines. Some of the canoes discovered They measure about six meters long and are 61 centimeters wide and used to, among other things, fight against Spanish ships. Less than 200 years after the foundation of both cities, the Spaniards attacked with the intention of appropriating them. They were besieged and the channels were key so that the Mexicans could supply during that period. Using the canoes, they could introduce goods, but they also led them to battle. Its little draft and high maneuverability allowed the Mexicans to tend to the Spaniards, but when the situation was less conducive because it fought in more open waters, no matter how much technology they had, they remained canoes from which the crew launched arrows and stones at much larger ships armed with cannons and strongly defended. In it Tenochtitlan final site 400 war canoes participated in front of 13 brigs. 300 were Sunkbut there are those who point out that, throughout the conflict, Thousands of canoes They were used. Both Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco They fell In 1521, so the naval cunning and expertise of the Mexicans could not against the brute and upper strength Spanish technology. Even so, the Spaniards would underestimate the canoes and their technology, the one that surprised Fernández de Oviedo and that allowed through the skirmishes and the movement of goods that the cities resisted the siege for a few months before claudicar. Images | INAH, History of the Indies of New Spain and islands of the mainland, CPFG (SP) Mariano Sánchez Bravo In Xataka | Google Earth has found an immense treasure under wetlands: the trap network that launched to the Mayan civilization

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