AMD has agreed to acquire AI model and research company World Labs in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $8.2 billion, in a move aimed at strengthening its position in the next generation of AI computing. The deal brings World Labs’ research team and spatial-intelligence expertise into AMD as AI workloads expand beyond traditional language models into robotics, simulation and physical AI.
Fei-Fei Li to Join AMD as Chief Scientist
World Labs is led by AI pioneer Dr. Fei-Fei Li, who will join AMD as executive vice president and chief scientist once the acquisition closes. She will report directly to AMD Chair and CEO Lisa Su.
Li is known for her work in computer vision and the creation of ImageNet. World Labs, which she co-founded, focuses on developing AI systems capable of understanding and generating interactive three-dimensional environments.
Focus on Spatial Intelligence and Physical AI
World Labs develops spatial-intelligence models that can generate, reconstruct and simulate interactive 3D environments using text, images and video. The company also works on robotic learning and simulation technologies.
AMD said this expertise could provide deeper insight into how emerging AI models and workloads are evolving, helping shape the company's future hardware, software and systems roadmaps.
The technology has potential applications across areas such as robotics, autonomous systems, industrial simulation, gaming and other environments where AI needs to understand and interact with the physical world.
$8.2 Billion All-Stock Transaction
The acquisition is valued at approximately $8.2 billion and is structured entirely as an all-stock transaction. AMD expects the deal to close by the end of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
World Labs had also previously worked with AMD GPUs for model training and inference optimisation, providing an existing technology relationship between the companies.
AMD Expands Beyond AI Chips
The acquisition comes as AMD seeks to build a broader AI ecosystem spanning processors, GPUs, networking, software and AI systems.
Lisa Su said that developing compute platforms for the next generation of AI requires a strong understanding of how models are evolving. AMD expects World Labs' research expertise to help connect model development with the hardware and software infrastructure required to run emerging AI workloads.
The move also places greater emphasis on open AI infrastructure, with AMD saying the acquisition is intended to strengthen its ability to support an open AI ecosystem.
World Labs Research to Continue
Following completion of the transaction, World Labs' team is expected to continue focusing on AI model research. AMD said the combination will give the researchers access to additional engineering resources while allowing the company to incorporate their expertise into future AI infrastructure development.
The acquisition highlights the changing competitive landscape in AI computing, where semiconductor companies are increasingly looking beyond processors and accelerators toward models, software and application-specific technologies.
For AMD, bringing World Labs into the company represents a push to better align its computing platforms with the emerging demands of spatial intelligence, robotics, simulation and physical AI.