AMD to Buy Fei-Fei Li’s World Labs in $8.2 Billion AI Deal

AMD has agreed to acquire World Labs, the AI research company founded by computer vision pioneer Fei-Fei Li, in an all-stock transaction worth about $8.2 billion. The chipmaker said the deal will give it closer insight into the computing demands of emerging AI models as it develops future hardware, software, and systems. 

AMD Expands Into Spatial AI Research

World Labs builds models designed to understand and simulate physical spaces. Its technology can generate and reconstruct interactive 3D environments from text, images and video, with potential uses in creative work, design and robotics research.

That research is relevant to AMD’s chip business. Models used for simulation and robotics may place different demands on computing systems from those used primarily for text generation. AMD says working directly with World Labs’ researchers will help it anticipate those demands and shape its technology roadmap. 

Fei-Fei Li to Become AMD’s Chief Scientist

Li will join AMD as executive vice president and chief scientist once the transaction closes, reporting to CEO Lisa Su. Li founded World Labs in 2024 after years of influential work in computer vision, including the ImageNet project. 

The two companies already have a technical relationship. Li said World Labs began working with AMD last year on model training and inference optimization using AMD GPUs. In a post about the acquisition, she said bringing the research closer to hardware would help World Labs scale its work

Deal Could Strengthen AMD’s AI Ecosystem

For AMD, the acquisition brings model researchers into a business best known for the processors and systems that run AI workloads. It could also strengthen AMD’s position as chipmakers compete to support applications such as robotics and physical simulation. Those benefits remain prospective while the deal awaits completion.

AMD expects the acquisition to close by the end of 2026, subject to regulatory approval and other customary conditions. World Labs’ team will continue its AI model research after the transaction closes, the company said.