There’s a fresh clash brewing in the AI world, and it’s getting pointed. Google has restricted access to its Gemini Pro services for certain users of OpenClaw, a desktop-based AI coding tool — and the fallout has been anything but quiet.

OpenClaw’s founder has called the move “draconian,” while Google insists it had no choice. Here’s how it all unfolded.

What is OpenClaw, and what happened?

OpenClaw is an open-source coding agent framework that lets developers plug AI models — including Google’s Gemini and Anthropic’s Claude — into a single unified workflow. That kind of flexibility has made it genuinely popular across developer communities. But it’s also, apparently, drawn some unwanted attention.

At the centre of this dispute is Google’s Antigravity tool, an AI-powered software development platform built on Gemini that allows users to write software even without formal coding expertise. Google claims that some OpenClaw users were exploiting the Antigravity backend in ways that seriously degraded service quality for everyone else, and so it pulled access.

“Pretty draconian from Google”

Peter Steinberger, founder of OpenClaw, didn’t hold back. In a post on X, he warned developers against relying too heavily on the Antigravity backend and hinted at potentially dropping support for it altogether. “Pretty draconian from Google. Be careful out there if you use Antigravity. I guess I’ll remove support (from OpenClaw),” he wrote.

He also took a pointed dig at how Google handled the situation compared to Anthropic. “Even Anthropic pings me and is nice about issues. Google just bans?” he added — drawing a clear contrast between the two companies’ approaches when problems arise.

Pretty draconian from Google. Be careful out there if you use Antigravity. I guess I'll remove support.

Even Anthropic pings me and is nice about issues. Google just… bans? https://t.co/JBq9YCB7nB

— Peter Steinberger 🦞 (@steipete) February 23, 2026

Google’s side of the story

Google wasn’t silent for long. Varun Mohan, lead on Google Antigravity, responded on X defending the company’s decision. “We’ve been seeing a massive increase in malicious usage of the Antigravity backend that has tremendously degraded the quality of service for our users. We needed to find a path to quickly shut off access to these users who are not using the product as intended,” he stated. Google has been clear that this was an operational call, not a competitive one.

The bigger picture

The episode has reignited a much broader debate about the power AI companies hold over access to their platforms. As tools like Gemini become deeply embedded in professional workflows, sudden restrictions can seriously disrupt the developers and businesses depending on them — raising real questions about whether unilateral bans are the right approach as AI edges closer to essential infrastructure.

There’s also an interesting subplot worth noting: OpenClaw is now part of OpenAI, placing it squarely within the orbit of one of Google’s biggest rivals. While no official link has been drawn between that acquisition and Google’s decision, it hasn’t stopped speculation about competitive undertones in an already crowded AI market.

For now, the restrictions affect a relatively limited set of users. But the tension this episode has exposed — between open AI innovation and the gatekeeping that comes with it — is unlikely to go away anytime soon.