Robert Scoble posted it on X. AI Twitter argued about it all weekend. Physical Intelligence CEO Karol Hausman shut it down in Slack with an Office gif of someone shaking her head no. Then The Information reported the two companies did hold acquisition talks — this spring.
What Physical Intelligence actually builds
Not robots. Robot brains. Physical Intelligence ships foundation models that turn a general instruction into motor commands on real hardware, and π0.5 is one of the most-used open models in robotics research. Two years old, co-founded by Lachy Groom with ex-Google researchers and Stanford/Berkeley professors, $1B+ raised, an $11B valuation in spring talks with Khosla, Thrive and Founders Fund on the cap table.
Why the denial doesn’t close the story
OpenAI is also an investor. Which means information rights, possibly a right of first refusal, and a very awkward conversation if Anthropic makes a real offer. Anthropic has closed four acquisitions this year; OpenAI has done 17 since 2023. Both filed confidentially for IPOs in June, a week apart.
The shared bet underneath: understanding the physical world may be a prerequisite for superintelligence, and neither lab wants to rent it.
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