Who pays when an AI agent makes a mistake?
OpenClaw is meant to be autonomous, completing actions without human prompting or review. That can lead to mistakes, like when a Meta alignment director almost deleted her entire inbox. For most, it’s the cost of doing business with AI. For others, it feels like it deserves a refund.
Peter Steinberger, who created the agent before he was hired by OpenAI, posted one user’s request on X. The user said that they set up OpenClaw on “sensitive financial documents” for over eight hours. He then said he spent hours correcting mistakes.
“The errors included incorrect financial figures, fabricated data, internal contradictions, and wrong calculations — all in confidential board documents where accuracy is critical,” the user wrote.
OpenClaw’s errors caused “significant wasted time and frustration,” he wrote. He wanted his token session refunded.
As an open source AI agent, OpenClaw is free to use. Steinberger wrote that he offered the user “a full refund of what he paid.” That full amount: $0.
“I felt generous,” Steinberger joked. “Rounded up to zero.”
Several commenters guessed that the petitioner was European. (Steinberger previously said that Europe’s strict regulations stifled growth in tech.) He responded that the user was actually American.
One commenter wrote that many jurisdictions provide a remedy for damages, making the request “not as silly as it sounds.” Steinberger responded with a clause from OpenClaw’s license.
“The software is provided ‘as is,’ without warranty of any kind,” the license read. The authors cannot be held liable for any claims or damages “in connection with the software or the use or other dealings in the software.”
OpenClaw is scaling rapidly. Chinese companies are rapidly adopting the tech. Lobster hats are all the rage, and fans are setting up conferences to meet up and watch demos.
Nvidia recently announced its bet on the bot, debuting its own AI agent: NemoClaw.
It’s possible a human didn’t even write the refund request. “His claw emailed you,” one commenter suggested.
“Very likely,” Steinberger responded.
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