The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of Clawdbot in 72 Hours (www.everydev.ai)

In a dramatic turn of events, the open-source AI assistant Clawdbot was rebranded to Moltbot after a trademark dispute with Anthropic, which claimed the name's similarity to "Claude." This rebranding, occurring in late January 2026, sparked chaos as a procedural error during the transition allowed crypto scammers to hijack both the project's GitHub and social media accounts. In just 10 seconds, scammers launched a fraudulent $16 million pump-and-dump scheme for a fake token named $CLAWD, devastating unsuspecting investors. While security researchers uncovered numerous vulnerabilities, including exposed API keys and other sensitive data, the project managed to stabilize as Moltbot, now boasting over 75,000 GitHub stars and an engaged community. The rapid rise and fall of Clawdbot serves as a cautionary tale for the AI/ML community, highlighting the precarious nature of open-source projects. It underscores the importance of robust security practices during branding transitions and the potential consequences of intellectual property disputes. Clawdbot's original appeal lay in its unique capabilities, such as local-first functionality and integration with popular messaging platforms—features that resonate with users seeking more control over their data. This incident emphasizes the need for vigilance within the tech ecosystem, ensuring that developers can protect their projects amid growing security threats and competitive pressures.