While optical tweezers have revolutionized light-driven manipulation, their force range, accessible scales, and versatility remain limited. To overcome these constraints, we harness light-induced heating, cooling, and temperature gradients to control matter. Inspired by natural phenomena such as wind and ocean currents, where temperature differences drive motion across vast scales, we establish an optothermal manipulation platform that is precise, versatile, and energy-efficient. This platform is further integrated with chemical, electrical, and acoustic modalities, enabling programmable control over the motion, interactions, structure, composition, and properties of matter across multiple scales. The incorporation of artificial intelligence paves the way toward self-driving manipulation and discovery.