Over the weekend, a rumor spread across AI Twitter that Anthropic was acquiring Physical Intelligence, a well-funded robotics startup. The rumor was swiftly denied by Physical Intelligence CEO Karol Hausman — via a Slack message featuring a GIF from The Office — but the story didn’t die. It didn’t die because, as it turns out, the rumor wasn’t baseless: Anthropic and Physical Intelligence held acquisition talks earlier this spring, according to a report from The Information. That revelation has opened a window into the strategic thinking of both Anthropic and its chief rival, OpenAI, as they race to build the next generation of AI systems that understand and operate in the physical world.