Editorial illustration for OpenClaw founder runs 100 AI agents for USD 1.3M/month code, review PRs, find bugs
OpenClaw founder runs 100 AI agents for USD 1.3M/month...
Peter Steinberger is spending $1.3 million a month on OpenAI APIs. That buys him 100 AI agents that write code, review pull requests, and hunt bugs. They even lurk in team meetings and open PRs for features discussed moments earlier.
The monthly bill: 603 billion tokens, 7.6 million requests, and a top model called GPT-5.5. OpenAI picks up the tab, or, more accurately, Steinberger does. He doesn’t flinch.
He’s asking a radical question: what would software development look like if token costs didn’t matter? The answer is a $1.3 million experiment, and whether that’s cheap or expensive depends entirely on what you’re trying to build.
In 30 days, the OpenAI API bill hit $1.3 million for 603 billion tokens and 7.6 million requests. The top model was GPT-5.5, and OpenAI picks up the tab.
For $1.3 million a month, Steinberger isn’t just buying code. He’s buying a hypothesis. The hypothesis that when the cost of thinking, of generating, testing, iterating, drops to zero, the very shape of software development changes.
We stop asking “Can we afford to try that?” and start asking “What happens if we try everything?” The 100 agents aren’t a workforce. They’re a probe into a future where the bottleneck isn’t compute, but human attention. The real question isn’t whether this is cheap or expensive.
It’s whether we’re ready for a world where the only limit to what software can do is the speed at which we can decide what we want. Steinberger is paying $1.3 million to find out. The rest of us are just watching the bill.
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Common Questions Answered
How much is Peter Steinberger spending monthly on OpenAI APIs for his AI agents?
Peter Steinberger is spending $1.3 million per month on OpenAI APIs to run 100 AI agents. This monthly expenditure translates to 603 billion tokens and 7.6 million API requests, with the agents utilizing a top model called GPT-5.5 for various development tasks.
What specific tasks do the 100 AI agents perform in Steinberger's software development workflow?
The 100 AI agents write code, review pull requests, hunt for bugs, and even participate in team meetings to identify features for development. They are capable of opening pull requests for features that are discussed in meetings moments after those discussions occur, demonstrating their integration into the development process.
What is Steinberger's core hypothesis about the future of software development with reduced token costs?
Steinberger's hypothesis is that when the cost of thinking, generating, testing, and iterating drops to zero, the fundamental nature of software development will change. Instead of asking "Can we afford to try that?", teams will start asking "What happens if we try everything?", shifting the bottleneck from compute resources to human attention.
How many tokens and API requests does Steinberger's monthly OpenAI usage consume?
Steinberger's 100 AI agents consume approximately 603 billion tokens and generate 7.6 million API requests each month. These metrics reflect the scale of his experiment in leveraging AI agents for comprehensive software development tasks.
Further Reading
- Stop Wasting Money on OpenClaw Agents (Do this instead) - YouTube — YouTube
- He Asked AI To Make Money. It Did. - YouTube — YouTube
- OpenClaw Investment Guide: Morgan Stanley Lists Top AI Agent Platforms — Investing.com
- Nvidia wraps its NemoClaw around OpenClaw for the sake of security — The Register
- Fere AI Raises USD 1.3M to Put a Self-Improving Trading Agent in Everyone’s Hands — The Wire
