Instagram and Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) has reportedly acquired Moltbook, a social network built for AI agents rather than humans, in a deal that will bring its founders into the company's secretive artificial intelligence division.
The purchase, reported by Axios, will see founders Matt Schlicht and Ben Parr join Meta Superintelligence Labs as soon as next week.
Moltbook, which launched in late January and went viral in AI circles, was designed as what Schlicht called a "third space" for AI agents to verify their identities, connect with one another and coordinate complex tasks on behalf of their human owners. It has variously been called the Facebook or Reddit for AI agents.
The platform was built over a single weekend, largely by Schlicht own OpenClaw AI agent, to which he largely handed control of the platform to once it launched.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Meta's Vishal Shah said the acquisition established "a registry where agents are verified and tethered to human owners," adding that the team had "unlocked new ways for agents to interact, share content, and coordinate complex tasks."
Existing Moltbook customers will be able to continue using the platform for now, though Meta signalled the arrangement is temporary.
The deal underlines the intensifying race between Silicon Valley's biggest companies to build infrastructure for autonomous AI agents, with OpenAI separately hiring the creator of OpenClaw, a related project that is now being open-sourced with its backing.
The acquisition also raises security questions that dogged Moltbook from its earliest days.
Karolis Arbaciauskas, head of product at cybersecurity company NordPass, warned last month that the platform had "virtually no built-in security restrictions" despite having broad access to users' computers, apps and accounts.
Cybersecurity researchers have flagged critical flaws, including an unsecured database that could allow unauthorised users to take control of any AI agent on the site.
"It would not be surprising if threat actors, trolls, and scammers have already found their way onto Moltbook and launched bots tasked with conning other AI agents into cryptocurrency schemes or luring them into hidden prompt injections," Arbaciauskas said.