AMD agrees to acquire World Labs for $8.2B in stock
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Semiconductor company AMD said Monday it has agreed to acquire World Labs, a physical AI model company, for $8.2 billion in stock.
Why it matters: It gives AMD talent — and a foundational model — to battle its much larger rival.
The big picture: Nvidia has invested aggressively in physical AI — creating infrastructure that integrates AI into real world tech.
- It first launched its Cosmos World Foundational model last year, aimed at applications from autonomous cars to robotics.
- It also marks a continued push for Nvidia beyond chips, and deeper into models and software.
Driving the news: World Labs founder Fei-Fei Li, often dubbed the "godmother of AI," will join AMD as executive vice president and chief scientist, reporting to AMD CEO Lisa Su.
- The deal is expected to close by the end of the year. AMD is valued at nearly $1 trillion as of late Monday.
By the numbers: Founded in 2023, World Labs most recently raised $1 billion from investors including AMD, Autodesk, Emerson Collective, Fidelity Management & Research Company, NVIDIA, and Sea.
- It did not disclose the valuation, though Bloomberg had reported that it had been discussing a $5 billion price tag a month before.
- The company came out of stealth at an over $1 billion valuation in 2024, with investors including Andreessen Horowitz, NEA, and Radical Ventures.
What they're saying: Li said in a Substack post that World Labs had been training models on AMD GPUs — leading eventually to the deal that marries hardware with software.
