AMD has signed a definitive agreement to acquire World Labs, an AI research lab focused on spatial intelligence, in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $8.2 billion. The acquisition is expected to close by the end of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
AcquisitionsAMDWorld LabsFei-Fei Li
AMD to Acquire World Labs for $8.2 Billion, Bringing Fei-Fei Li as Chief Scientist
As part of the deal, World Labs co-founder and CEO Dr. Fei-Fei Li will join AMD as Executive Vice President and Chief Scientist, reporting directly to CEO Dr. Lisa Su. Justin Johnson and Ben Mildenhall, also co-founders, will continue to lead the World Labs team within AMD to advance AI model research.
World Labs, founded in 2024, develops foundation models designed to understand and reason about the physical world. The company's technology includes "Atlas," an omni model architecture for camera view prediction, and "Marble," a product for generating interactive 3D environments.
The companies have been in a technical partnership since last year, focusing on optimizing model training and inference on AMD GPUs. AMD stated that the acquisition will provide deeper insights into evolving frontier workloads and help shape its chip-making roadmap. The move aims to strengthen AMD's ability to develop AI hardware, software, and systems tailored to emerging models and applications, particularly for robotics and physical AI.
Sources
- World Labs Is Joining AMD （Hacker News Frontpage, 2026-09-28）
- Fei-Fei LiのSubstack
5 more sourcesHide sources
- AMD will acquire Fei-Fei Li’s World Labs for $8.2 billion （TechCrunch AI, 2026-09-28）
- Fei-Fei Li's Substack
- AMD is acquiring AI company World Labs in a deal worth more than $8 billion （The Verge AI, 2026-09-28）
- AMD、フェイフェイ・リー博士のWorld Labsを約82億ドルで買収へ ハードとモデルを一体化したオープンAIエコシステム加速へ （ITmedia AI+, 2026-09-29）
- AMDが3D世界を構築するAI企業「World Labs」を買収、「AIのゴッドマザー」が率いる画像・動画・3D空間の生成が可能な世界モデルの開発企業 （GIGAZINE, 2026-09-29）