AMD to acquire World Labs for $8.2bn, appointing Fei‑Fei Li as chief scientist

AMD has agreed to buy AI start‑up World Labs in a deal worth $8.2 billion, with the acquisition set to close by the end of the year.

World Labs, described as a “spatial intelligence company”, creates models that can perceive, generate, reason and interact with both virtual and physical worlds. Its flagship product, Marble, produces 3D virtual environments from image or text prompts.

Dr Fei‑Fei Li, founder of World Labs and former director of Stanford’s Human‑Centred AI institute, will join AMD as chief scientist and executive vice‑president, reporting directly to chair and CEO Dr Lisa Su.

The start‑up’s team of about 70 staff will become part of the semiconductor giant. Li, who co‑founded World Labs in 2024 with researchers Ben Mildenhall and Justin Johnson, said the companies had built a “deep technical partnership” with AMD last year, making the acquisition a natural fit for their AI ecosystem.

World Labs raised $1 billion earlier this year in a round backed by Nvidia, AMD and Autodesk, valuing the company at $5 billion. Autodesk contributed $200 million and secured an advisory role.

Source: Silicon Republic. Photo: Blackcurrant Great / Pexels.