Andrej Karpathy talks about "Claws"
simonwillison.net
February 21, 2026
2 min read
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Summary
Andrej Karpathy expressed interest in "Claws," a new layer on top of LLM agents for orchestration, scheduling, context, and tool calls. He purchased a Mac Mini to experiment with OpenClaw, noting its popularity and the confusion surrounding it.
Key Takeaways
- Andrej Karpathy describes "Claws" as a new layer on top of LLM agents, enhancing orchestration, scheduling, context, tool calls, and persistence.
- The term "Claw" is emerging as a category for OpenClaw-like agent systems that operate on personal hardware and communicate via messaging protocols.
- Smaller implementations of Claws, such as NanoClaw, are being developed, with NanoClaw featuring a core engine of approximately 4000 lines of code.
- Claws are gaining popularity, with the Apple Store reporting high sales of devices like the Mac Mini for tinkering with these systems.
Community Sentiment
Positives
- Karpathy's naming of 'Claw' effectively encapsulates the essence of these AI processes, highlighting their unique characteristics beyond traditional agent terminology.
Concerns
- Concerns about security and the potential for misuse of 'Claws' are significant, as past experiences with similar tools have led to severe data loss for users.
- The skepticism around self-hosting 'Claws' suggests a trend towards centralized hosting solutions, which may limit user control and increase dependency on service providers.
