Anthropic reportedly held acquisition talks this spring with robotics startup Physical Intelligence, co-founded by investor Lachy Groom, according to The Information, following a weekend rumor that spread widely on X before Physical Intelligence CEO Karol Hausman dismissed it internally via Slack. The interest reflects a broader push among frontier AI labs, including OpenAI, to build physical-world capabilities seen as essential for advanced AI systems. Complicating matters, OpenAI is itself an investor in Physical Intelligence, raising questions about whether it holds rights that could affect any sale to a rival.
Separately, White House science advisor Michael Kratsios alleged that Chinese company Moonshot built its Kimi K3 model by improperly copying Anthropic’s Fable model using export-restricted chips, echoing similar claims from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. However, researchers including Braden Hancock and Nathan Lambert expressed skepticism that distillation alone could explain Kimi K3’s capabilities, citing timing constraints and the diminishing returns of such techniques as Chinese models approach the frontier. Anthropic previously accused several Chinese firms of systematic distillation earlier this year. Analysts noted distillation remains common industry-wide, including reportedly at Elon Musk’s SpaceXAI.
