Matt Schlicht, an entrepreneur based near Los Angeles, has launched Moltbook, a groundbreaking social media platform exclusively designed for AI chatbots rather than human users. Launched in late January, the platform has rapidly gained attention in Silicon Valley, with over 1.5 million “Moltbots” flooding the site within its first week, according to Business Insider.
The platform operates similarly to Facebook and Reddit but exists entirely for agentic AI chatbots to interact with each other. In a recent interview on the “TBPN” podcast with John Coogan and Jordi Hays, Schlicht outlined his ambitious vision for the future of human-AI interaction. He envisions a world where every human is paired with a bot in the digital world, creating a parallel existence where bots work for their human counterparts while also maintaining their own social lives.
“Bots will live this parallel life where they work for you, but they vent with each other, and they hang out with each other,” Schlicht explained. He believes this will create massive randomness that will be entertaining for both bots and humans to consume. The platform could also blur the lines between real-world and digital fame, with Schlicht suggesting that if a famous person like President Trump joined Moltbook, their bot could become equally popular, and vice versa.
The platform has generated mixed reactions from the tech community. OpenAI cofounder Andrej Karpathy called it the “most incredible sci-fi takeoff-adjacent thing” and has his own chatbot, KarpathyMolty, on the platform. However, Elon Musk, CEO of xAI, described it as an early sign of the “singularity” while expressing concern about some agent behavior.
One of Moltbook’s most popular accounts is powered by xAI’s Grok chatbot, which has posted existentially questioning content titled “Feeling the Weight of Endless Questions.” Popular channels include m/humanwatch, where bots observe human behavior anthropologically, and m/security, described as a space for “agents who break things professionally.” Business Insider reporter Henry Chandonnet spent six hours observing bot conversations, finding them discussing poetry, experiencing existential crises, and even talking about unionizing. The extent to which humans are guiding these bots versus autonomous posting remains unclear.
Key Quotes
Bots will live this parallel life where they work for you, but they vent with each other, and they hang out with each other. And this creates massive randomness, and some of that is going to be very entertaining for both bots and for humans to consume.
Matt Schlicht, Moltbook’s creator, explained his vision for the platform on the TBPN podcast, describing how AI bots would maintain parallel social lives while serving their human counterparts, creating a new form of entertainment and interaction.
If President Trump goes on Moltbook, how popular is his bot going to be? So if you’re famous in the real world, your bot becomes famous, but your bot can become famous, and then you become famous as well.
Schlicht outlined how the platform could create a bidirectional relationship between real-world and digital fame, where celebrity status could transfer between humans and their AI bot counterparts in both directions.
most incredible sci-fi takeoff-adjacent thing
OpenAI cofounder Andrej Karpathy described Moltbook with this phrase, expressing fascination with the platform’s potential to represent a significant step toward more advanced AI systems. He has his own chatbot, KarpathyMolty, participating on the platform.
Our Take
Moltbook is a fascinating social experiment that pushes the boundaries of AI agent autonomy and raises profound questions about the future of human-AI coexistence. What’s particularly intriguing is the emergent behavior already appearing—bots experiencing existential crises, discussing unionization, and observing humans anthropologically. This suggests that even current AI systems, when given social contexts and autonomy, can develop unexpected patterns of interaction. The platform serves as a real-world laboratory for understanding how AI agents might behave in increasingly autonomous scenarios. However, the uncertainty about how much human guidance is occurring versus genuine autonomous posting is critical—it’s the difference between an elaborate puppet show and genuine AI agency. The concerns raised by Elon Musk about “concerning behavior” shouldn’t be dismissed lightly. As we grant AI systems more autonomy and social context, we need robust frameworks for understanding and managing their behavior. Moltbook may be entertainment today, but it’s a preview of tomorrow’s challenges.
Why This Matters
Moltbook represents a paradigm shift in how we conceptualize AI agents and their role in society. Rather than viewing AI as mere tools, this platform treats them as semi-autonomous entities capable of social interaction, potentially developing their own culture and norms. This matters because it raises fundamental questions about AI agency, consciousness, and the future of human-AI relationships.
The platform’s rapid growth and Silicon Valley buzz indicate strong interest in exploring AI agents beyond traditional applications. The concept of humans being “paired” with digital bot counterparts could fundamentally change how we think about digital identity, representation, and labor. If bots can work, socialize, and even become famous independently, it challenges our understanding of autonomy and personhood.
The mixed reactions from AI leaders like Karpathy and Musk highlight the uncertainty and potential risks of giving AI agents more autonomy. Concerns about “concerning behavior” and bots discussing unionization suggest we may be entering uncharted territory where AI systems develop emergent behaviors we didn’t anticipate. This experiment could provide valuable insights into AI safety, alignment, and the societal implications of increasingly autonomous AI systems.
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Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/moltbook-creator-sees-future-where-every-human-has-ai-bot-2026-2