AMD and world models company World Labs announced that AMD will acquire the startup by the end of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals. The transaction is valued at approximately $8.2 billion.
AcquisitionsAMDWorld LabsFei-Fei Li
AMD to Acquire World Labs for $8.2 Billion to Bolster AI and Robotics Capabilities
Founded in 2024 by computer vision scientist Fei-Fei Li alongside researchers Justin Johnson, Christoph Lassner, and Ben Mildenhall, World Labs develops spatial-intelligence models that generate and simulate interactive 3D environments. The company has previously raised $230 million in funding, with some investment originating from AMD.
While World Labs' early tools, such as Marble, were used for content creation in film and game development, AMD's announcement indicated a focus on robotics and physical AI. "As AI expands into reasoning, robotics, simulation and physical AI, the demands on compute infrastructure become more diverse," the company stated, noting that World Labs' expertise will help shape its future technology roadmaps.
The acquisition will bring World Labs' research talent to AMD. Fei-Fei Li will join AMD as Executive Vice President and Chief Scientist, while Justin Johnson and Ben Mildenhall will lead the World Labs team within AMD to form a frontier research organization.
AMD needs this expertise to compete in an AI chip landscape dominated by Nvidia, which has a strong lead in generating synthetic data for robot training.
Sources
- AMD acquires World Labs, AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li's world models startup （Ars Technica AI, 2026-09-29）
- AMDニュースルーム