Google restricted access for Antigravity users and Gemini AI Ultra subscribers who used OpenClaw, citing malicious activity on the Antigravity backend and aiming to curb automated abuse.

Varun Mohan, head of Google Antigravity, acknowledged service degradation, clarified that only Antigravity-related access was blocked while other Google services remained unaffected, and offered a limited reinstatement path for unaware violators.

OpenClaw's creator Peter Steinberger criticized Google's approach as draconian and contrasted it with Anthropic, which recently banned OAuth token usage from Claude-based accounts in third-party tools like OpenClaw.

The incident highlights broader questions about who should control access to AI systems and how to balance open innovation with responsible usage as AI tools become infrastructure.

The move comes as OpenClaw is being integrated with OpenAI, fueling concerns about reliance on AI services controlled by large platforms and potential policy conflicts.

OpenClaw, formerly Clawdbot and Moltbot, gained popularity for privacy-centric, on-device data handling and autonomous task execution through AgentSkills add-ons.

OpenAI publicly endorsed third-party harness usage and even hired OpenClaw's founder, signaling a contrasting stance to OpenAI's competitive positioning.

OpenClaw faced security and exposure issues, including tens of thousands of exposed instances, infostealer threats targeting config files, and a supply chain attack linked to ClawHavoc.

OpenClaw saw rapid adoption with over 100,000 GitHub stars and substantial weekly traffic, but security concerns rise when configurations are misused.

Cybersecurity experts warned of vulnerabilities like exposed instances, info-stealer risks, and supply chain threats intensifying scrutiny.

Anthropic has previously pushed back on OpenClaw access, underscoring rising tensions among AI firms over third-party usage of models.

Digit India published the piece, authored by Bhaskar Sharma, offering background on Sharma's expertise and role.