AMD has reached an agreement to buy World Labs, the AI startup established by renowned researcher Fei-Fei Li, through an all-stock deal worth roughly USD 8.2 billion. Through this acquisition, the chipmaker will integrate World Labs’ spatial intelligence know-how and research personnel as it broadens its artificial intelligence offerings past just hardware.
Fei-Fei Li to Join AMD as Chief Scientist
As part of the pact, Fei-Fei Li is set to become AMD’s executive vice president and chief scientist, answering directly to Lisa Su, the chair and CEO of AMD. Following the completion of the deal, the World Labs team will press forward with its AI model research.
Li, a well-known computer scientist and leading AI researcher, launched World Labs to create models that enable AI systems to comprehend and engage with the physical world. Previously, AMD and World Labs established a technical collaboration centered on optimizing inference and training for models utilizing AMD GPUs.
World Labs Focuses on Spatial Intelligence
Headquartered in San Francisco, World Labs builds spatial-intelligence models that can generate, simulate, and reconstruct interactive 3D environments from text, video, and image prompts. Furthermore, the firm develops simulation and robotic learning technology.
Its innovations are geared toward sectors requiring AI to interpret physical surroundings, such as design, simulation, and robotics. According to AMD, the capabilities of World Labs could offer valuable perspective on how AI workloads will change as the technology moves into areas like reasoning, simulation, physical AI, and robotics.
Also Read: AMD Hits USD 1 Trillion Market Cap as Lisa Su Bets Big on AI Growth
Deal Expected to Close by End of 2026
Pending standard closing conditions and regulatory clearances, the purchase is anticipated to wrap up by the conclusion of 2026. The transaction will be conducted entirely in stock.
AMD stated that the buyout will enhance its capacity to build systems, software, and hardware tailored to emerging AI applications and models. Lisa Su noted that comprehending how AI models evolve will stay crucial for designing compute platforms for the upcoming generation of artificial intelligence.
Regarding World Labs, Li remarked that merging with AMD supplies the group with the engineering depth and resources required to speed up its work and help shape the infrastructure for the next era of AI.
