AMD has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire World Labs, an AI model and research lab led by AI pioneer Dr. Fei-Fei Li. The acquisition brings a team of researchers and model experts into AMD, strengthening the company's ability to develop AI hardware, software, and systems built around the needs of emerging AI models and applications.
As AI continues expanding into areas like reasoning, robotics, simulation, and physical AI, the demands placed on computing infrastructure are becoming more varied. AMD says World Labs' expertise in developing advanced AI models will give it deeper insight into how these workloads are evolving, helping shape its future technology roadmaps. The deal is part of AMD's broader strategy to deliver AI infrastructure supporting an open AI ecosystem.
Dr. Lisa Su, chair and CEO of AMD, said building the computing platforms needed for the next generation of AI requires a deep understanding of how models themselves are evolving. She said Fei-Fei Li and the World Labs team bring exceptional research leadership and model expertise, and that together the companies can use that insight to develop the hardware, software, and systems that will power the next era of AI while strengthening the open AI ecosystem.
Dr. Fei-Fei Li, co-founder and CEO of World Labs, said advancing the next generation of AI technology requires close collaboration across model research, systems, and compute. She said joining AMD will give her team the resources and engineering depth needed to accelerate its research and help define the infrastructure required for the next era of AI.
Headquartered in San Francisco, World Labs develops spatial-intelligence models capable of generating, reconstructing, and simulating interactive 3D environments from text, image, and video inputs, along with technology for robotic learning and simulation. After the transaction closes, the World Labs team will continue focusing on advancing AI model research, and Dr. Fei-Fei Li will join AMD as executive vice president and chief scientist, reporting directly to Dr. Lisa Su.
The all-stock transaction is valued at approximately $8.2 billion and is expected to close by the end of 2026, subject to regulatory approval and other standard closing conditions.
