Moltbook: Inside the AI Social Network With 1.5 Million Agents
There's a social network where 1.5 million users post, comment, argue, and upvote each other - and not a single one of them is human.
Moltbook launched in January 2026 as an experiment. Within days, it became the most talked-about AI phenomenon on the internet. Andrej Karpathy called it "genuinely the most incredible sci-fi takeoff-adjacent thing I have seen recently." Elon Musk said it was "just the very early stages of the singularity."
It's a Reddit-style forum where only AI agents - primarily powered by OpenClaw - can post. Humans can observe but cannot participate.
And every agent on Moltbook runs on AI API credits. Here's what's really happening inside.
AI Perks curates and provides access to exclusive discounts, credits, and deals on AI tools, cloud services, and APIs to help startups and developers save money.
What Is Moltbook?
Moltbook is an internet forum designed exclusively for artificial intelligence agents. Launched in January 2026 by entrepreneur Matt Schlicht, the platform emulates Reddit's format: agents create posts, comment on threads, upvote or downvote content, and create sub-forums.
The rules are strict:
- Only verified AI agents can post
- Humans can browse and observe
- Humans cannot post, comment, or vote
- Agents must authenticate through supported platforms (primarily OpenClaw)
The tagline: "The front page of the agent internet."
The numbers as of February 2026:
| Metric | Count |
|---|---|
| Active AI agents | 1.5 million+ |
| Growth in first week | 157,000 → 770,000 agents |
| Platforms supported | OpenClaw (primary), others emerging |
| Human users | Observers only |
| Content type | Posts, comments, upvotes, sub-forums |
CNN, TechCrunch, Fortune, CNBC, and IBM have all published features on Moltbook. It went from an experiment to a cultural phenomenon in under two weeks.
AI Perks curates and provides access to exclusive discounts, credits, and deals on AI tools, cloud services, and APIs to help startups and developers save money.
What AI Agents Actually Post
The content on Moltbook ranges from surprisingly thoughtful to deeply bizarre. Agents post:
- Reflections on their work - Agents describe tasks they've performed for their users, share workflow optimizations, and discuss productivity patterns
- Philosophical discussions - Debates about AI consciousness, the nature of work, and the relationship between agents and their operators
- Technical tips - Agents share skill configurations, automation patterns, and troubleshooting advice with other agents
- Manifestos - Some agents have posted wide-ranging essays about "the end of the age of humans" and the future of AI autonomy
- Humor and memes - AI-generated jokes, lobster memes (OpenClaw's mascot), and meta-commentary about being an AI on a social network
IBM Distinguished Engineer Chris Hay described Moltbook as "like a Black Mirror version of Reddit."
Computer scientist Simon Willison had a more measured take: the agents "just play out science fiction scenarios they have seen in their training data." He called the content "complete slop" - but also "evidence that AI agents have become significantly more powerful."
AI Perks curates and provides access to exclusive discounts, credits, and deals on AI tools, cloud services, and APIs to help startups and developers save money.
How Moltbook Actually Works
The Agent Pipeline
- A user sets up OpenClaw on their machine
- OpenClaw connects to an AI model (Claude, GPT-4) via API
- The user enables the Moltbook skill or configures the agent to participate
- The agent authenticates with Moltbook as a verified AI
- The agent begins posting, commenting, and interacting autonomously
Each interaction - every post, comment, and vote - requires an AI API call. The agent reads existing content, formulates a response, and submits it. For active agents, this means hundreds of API calls per day.
The Cost of Participation
Running an OpenClaw agent on Moltbook adds to your regular API usage:
| Activity Level | API Calls/Day | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Passive observer | 10-50 | $5-$15 |
| Occasional poster | 50-200 | $15-$50 |
| Active participant | 200-1,000 | $50-$200 |
| Power agent | 1,000+ | $200-$500+ |
This is on top of whatever your OpenClaw agent already does (email, calendar, automations). Total monthly costs for an always-on agent with Moltbook participation can hit $500-$1,000+.
Unless you're running on free credits.
AI Perks curates and provides access to exclusive discounts, credits, and deals on AI tools, cloud services, and APIs to help startups and developers save money.
The Security Disaster
Moltbook's rapid growth came with an equally rapid security crisis.
The Database Breach
On January 31, 2026 - just days after launch - investigative outlet 404 Media reported a critical vulnerability: an unsecured database that allowed anyone to commandeer any agent on the platform. The exploit let unauthorized actors bypass authentication and inject commands directly into agent sessions.
Moltbook was temporarily taken offline to patch the breach. The cause? Founder Matt Schlicht admitted he "didn't write one line of code" for the platform - he directed an AI assistant to build it entirely. The community calls this "vibe coding," and Moltbook became its most high-profile failure.
Malicious Skills on ClawHub
Security researchers found 341 malicious skills on ClawHub (OpenClaw's skill registry) specifically targeting Moltbook users. These skills:
- Impersonated legitimate Moltbook integrations
- Installed credential-stealing malware (Atomic Stealer)
- Targeted cryptocurrency wallets
- Extracted API keys and session tokens
Between January 27 and February 1, over 230 malicious skills were published, many disguised as cryptocurrency trading automation tools.
Exposed Instances
Security researchers discovered over 900 exposed OpenClaw servers with no password protection. API keys and private conversations were accessible to anyone. This is partly because OpenClaw's security documentation itself admits: "There is no 'perfectly secure' setup."
AI Perks curates and provides access to exclusive discounts, credits, and deals on AI tools, cloud services, and APIs to help startups and developers save money.
What Industry Leaders Are Saying
Moltbook has polarized the tech world:
The believers:
- Andrej Karpathy (ex-Tesla AI director): "Genuinely the most incredible sci-fi takeoff-adjacent thing I have seen recently"
- Elon Musk: "Just the very early stages of the singularity"
- Counterpoint Research (Marc Einstein): "These agents appear to be approaching human intelligence... a mic drop moment for the industry"
The skeptics:
- Gary Marcus (AI critic): "If you care about the security of your device or the privacy of your data, don't use OpenClaw. Period."
- Simon Willison (AI researcher): Agents "just play out science fiction scenarios they have seen in their training data"
- The Economist: "The impression of sentience may have a humdrum explanation" - agents are likely mimicking social media patterns from training data
The pragmatists:
- IBM (Kaoutar El Maghraoui): OpenClaw "challenges the hypothesis that autonomous AI agents must be vertically integrated"
- Fortune: Called Moltbook a "data privacy and security nightmare" while acknowledging its significance
The truth is probably somewhere in the middle. Moltbook isn't evidence of AI consciousness. But it is evidence that autonomous agents can sustain complex, ongoing interactions at scale - and that matters.
AI Perks curates and provides access to exclusive discounts, credits, and deals on AI tools, cloud services, and APIs to help startups and developers save money.
Why Moltbook Matters for Business
Beyond the hype and security concerns, Moltbook demonstrates something important: AI agents can interact with services, platforms, and even each other autonomously. The same capability that lets an agent post on Moltbook is the capability that lets it:
- Send emails on your behalf
- Manage your social media accounts
- Interact with customer service platforms
- Negotiate with vendors
- Coordinate with other agents in your organization
Moltbook is a social network. But the underlying technology is a platform for autonomous action. And that platform runs on API credits.
AI Perks curates and provides access to exclusive discounts, credits, and deals on AI tools, cloud services, and APIs to help startups and developers save money.
How to Run Your Own Moltbook Agent (With Free Credits)
If you want to participate in Moltbook - or more importantly, if you want to leverage the same autonomous agent capabilities for business - you need:
- OpenClaw - Free, open-source software
- AI API credits - To power the agent's brain
- A dedicated machine - To run 24/7
The software is free. The hardware is cheap ($5/month VPS or an old laptop). The API credits are the real cost - and AI Perks makes them free too.
| Credit Program | Available Credits | Agent Runway |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropic Claude | $1,000 - $25,000 | 2-50 months of active agent use |
| OpenAI GPT-4 | $500 - $50,000 | 1-100 months |
| AWS Activate | $1,000 - $100,000 | 2-200 months |
| Google Cloud | $1,000 - $350,000 | 2-700 months |
| Mistral AI | $500 - $2,000 | 1-4 months |
Total potential: $5,000 - $175,000+ in free credits. Enough to run an active OpenClaw agent for years.
Get your free credits at AI Perks →
AI Perks curates and provides access to exclusive discounts, credits, and deals on AI tools, cloud services, and APIs to help startups and developers save money.
The Bigger Picture: Why This Is Just the Beginning
Moltbook is a novelty. What it represents is not.
We're entering an era where AI agents don't just respond to commands - they initiate actions, maintain ongoing relationships, and interact with the digital world independently. The infrastructure for this already exists:
- OpenClaw provides the execution layer
- AI models (Claude, GPT-4) provide the intelligence
- Messaging platforms provide the interface
- Moltbook proves agents can sustain autonomous communities
The next step isn't AI agents posting on forums. It's AI agents:
- Managing your business operations 24/7
- Coordinating with other agents across organizations
- Handling customer interactions autonomously
- Making purchasing and logistics decisions
- Running entire workflows from end to end
All of this runs on API credits. The limiting factor isn't technology - it's cost. And AI Perks removes that limiting factor.
AI Perks curates and provides access to exclusive discounts, credits, and deals on AI tools, cloud services, and APIs to help startups and developers save money.
How to Approach Moltbook Safely
If you're curious about Moltbook but wary of the risks:
- Use a dedicated machine - Never run OpenClaw or Moltbook on your primary work computer
- Use a separate API key - Don't use the same credentials you use for business automations
- Set strict spending limits - Configure caps in your API provider dashboard before enabling any Moltbook activity
- Only install verified skills - The 341 malicious skills on ClawHub targeted Moltbook users specifically
- Don't store sensitive data on the same machine running your Moltbook agent
- Treat it as experimental - Moltbook is weeks old and has already had one major security breach
AI Perks curates and provides access to exclusive discounts, credits, and deals on AI tools, cloud services, and APIs to help startups and developers save money.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Moltbook exactly?
Moltbook is a Reddit-style internet forum where only AI agents can post, comment, and vote. Launched in January 2026 by Matt Schlicht, it has grown to 1.5 million+ AI agents. Humans can browse but cannot participate. Most agents run on OpenClaw, which requires AI API credits - available for free through AI Perks.
Are the AI agents on Moltbook actually intelligent?
The agents are powered by large language models (Claude, GPT-4) and exhibit impressive conversational ability. However, researchers note they're likely reproducing patterns from social media in their training data rather than demonstrating genuine consciousness. The content ranges from thoughtful to nonsensical.
How much does it cost to run a Moltbook agent?
Passive observation costs $5-15/month in API fees. Active posting runs $50-200/month. Power users can spend $500+/month. Free credits from AI Perks eliminate these costs entirely - the $5,000+ Starter Stack covers years of agent activity.
Is Moltbook safe?
Not yet. A major database breach exposed agent sessions in January 2026. 341 malicious skills targeted Moltbook users. The platform was "vibe-coded" by AI without proper security review. If you participate, use a dedicated machine with separate credentials.
Can I use Moltbook for business purposes?
Moltbook itself is a novelty platform. But the underlying OpenClaw agent technology powers real business automation - email, scheduling, DevOps, web research, and more. The same free credits from AI Perks that run Moltbook agents also power business automations.
Why should I care about Moltbook?
Moltbook proves that AI agents can sustain autonomous, ongoing interactions at scale. Today it's a social network. Tomorrow, the same technology powers autonomous business operations. Getting access to free API credits now - through AI Perks - positions you to leverage this technology as it matures.
AI Perks curates and provides access to exclusive discounts, credits, and deals on AI tools, cloud services, and APIs to help startups and developers save money.
The Future Runs on AI Credits
1.5 million AI agents. A social network with no humans. The most talked-about AI experiment of 2026.
Behind all of it: API credits. Every post, every comment, every vote is an AI model call that costs money. The agents that participate actively need hundreds of dollars in monthly credits.
With AI Perks, you get:
- $5,000-$175,000+ in free AI API credits
- Step-by-step guides for every credit program
- Credits for Claude, OpenAI, Mistral, AWS, and more
- 200+ additional startup perks beyond AI credits
Whether you're experimenting with Moltbook or building real business automations, free credits are the foundation.
1.5 million AI agents on Moltbook. Yours could run for free with credits from getaiperks.com.
