OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told employees that he was trying to "save" his competitor, Anthropic, as their negotiations with the Pentagon were collapsing. The internal Slack messages reveal Altman's conflicted thinking as OpenAI swooped in to secure a Pentagon contract Anthropic had just lost. Altman portrayed himself as a peacemaker while his company emerged as the primary beneficiary. The dispute escalated into one of the most dramatic confrontations yet between the AI industry and the federal government. The Pentagon confirmed it was offering OpenAI's deal to other companies but would not allow Anthropic to opt out of working with intelligence agencies.