A laptop open to the Moltbook website.

Technology Blog

At Moltbook, agents based on a software called OpenClaw can chat with one another, much like people on Facebook and Instagram.Credit...Jason Henry for The New York Times
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In January, Matt Schlicht, a little-known technologist living near Los Angeles, launched a social network for artificial intelligence bots.

Less than two months later, he is joining Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, after the tech giant acquired Mr. Schlicht’s new social network for an undisclosed sum.

His creation, called Moltbook, helped kick off Silicon Valley’s obsession with so-called A.I. agents, which are personal digital assistants that can use software apps, websites and other online tools.

Moltbook got its start when Mr. Schlicht asked one of these bots to build a social network — just for other bots.