AMD Buys Fei-Fei Li’s World Labs in $8.2 Billion Bet on ‘Physical AI’

Advanced Micro Devices said on Monday it will acquire World Labs, the artificial intelligence startup founded by computer-vision pioneer Fei-Fei Li, in an all-stock deal valued at $8.2 billion, according to Reuters.

The agreement, signed on September 26 and disclosed on Monday, gives the chipmaker a research foothold in “physical AI” — systems that understand, generate and simulate three-dimensional environments rather than merely processing text and images. World Labs develops spatial-intelligence models capable of reconstructing interactive 3D worlds from text, images and video, with potential applications in robotics, simulation and industrial design.

As part of the transaction, Li — best known for creating ImageNet, the dataset that ignited the deep-learning era — will join AMD as executive vice president and chief scientist, reporting directly to chief executive Lisa Su. AMD said the deal is expected to close by the end of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals.

“Building the compute platforms for the next generation of AI requires a deep understanding of how models are evolving,” Su said in a statement. “Fei-Fei and the World Labs team bring exceptional research leadership and model expertise.”

AMD said the research will help it understand emerging AI workloads and guide its hardware, software and systems roadmaps as demand for computing power for physical AI and robotics grows. AMD was already an investor in World Labs, having joined its $1 billion funding round earlier this year. The purchase is the chipmaker’s second-largest on record, behind its roughly $50 billion acquisition of Xilinx in 2022.

Sources

• Reuters: https://www.lapost.com/content/amd-to-buy-fei-fei-li-s-world-labs-in-8-2-billion-bet-on-physical-ai
• MarketWatch: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/amd-makes-a-big-bet-on-the-next-era-of-ai-7f8a3b3c
• AI StockWire / CNBC: https://aistockwire.com/blog/amd-world-labs-fei-fei-li-8-2-billion-all-stock-physical-ai-september-2026