AMD has announced the acquisition of World Labs, a startup specializing in spatial intelligence, for approximately $8.2 billion in an all-stock deal. The transaction is expected to finalize by the end of 2026, subject to regulatory approval. Following the deal, AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li will join AMD as Executive Vice President and Chief Scientist, reporting directly to CEO Lisa Su.
Founded in early 2024 by Fei-Fei Li, Ben Mildenhall, and Justin Johnson, World Labs employs about 70 people. The startup focuses on developing world models capable of simulating three-dimensional environments from text, image, and video inputs. In September, the company introduced Atlas, a model designed to reconstruct spatial scenes from limited image data.
Prior to the acquisition, World Labs raised $230 million in a Series A round in 2024, followed by $1 billion in early 2025. Investors included Andreessen Horowitz, Nvidia, Autodesk, and AMD itself. The final acquisition price of $8.2 billion represents a significant increase in valuation for the startup compared to its previous funding rounds.
AMD aims to leverage the expertise of the World Labs team to better understand AI workloads and refine its future hardware roadmaps. CEO Lisa Su emphasized that deep integration between software research and hardware development is essential for building efficient systems. This move strengthens AMD's competitive position against Nvidia in the AI chip market.
