AMD acquires World Labs AI from Fei-Fei Li for $8B

AMD just wrote an $8.2 billion check for World Labs, the AI startup founded by Stanford professor and AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li. The deal, announced on September 28, represents one of AMD’s largest acquisitions ever and a clear signal that the company sees its future well beyond selling graphics cards to gamers. World Labs specializes in what the industry calls “spatial intelligence,” building AI models that can generate, perceive, and reason about 3D environments. What AMD is actually buying World Labs was founded in 2024 by Li alongside co-founders Justin Johnson, Christoph Lassner, and Ben Mildenhall, all of whom bring deep expertise in computer vision and 3D reconstruction. The startup raised a $230 million seed round in September 2024, then followed that up with a massive $1 billion equity round in February 2026. AMD actually participated in that round alongside Nvidia and Autodesk, meaning it got a close look at World Labs’ technology before deciding to buy the whole thing. Total funding raised before the acquisition came to roughly $1.23 billion. AMD is now paying between $8 billion and $8.2 billion to take full ownership. Specific deal terms beyond the headline number remain un...