AMD to acquire Fei-Fei Li's World Labs for $8.2 billion, deepening AI push against Nvidia

AMD has agreed to acquire World Labs, the artificial intelligence startup co-founded by researcher Fei-Fei Li, in a deal worth $8.2 billion, according to a report from Ars Technica.

The acquisition is expected to close by the end of the year and marks one of AMD's largest AI-related deals to date, as the chipmaker looks to strengthen its position against rival Nvidia in the fast-growing artificial intelligence hardware and software market.

World Labs has focused on developing "world models," a category of AI systems designed to build spatial and physical understanding of environments, an area increasingly seen as important to advancing generative AI and robotics applications.

The deal underscores the intensifying competition among major chipmakers to secure AI talent and technology as demand for AI infrastructure continues to grow across the industry.

Terms beyond the purchase price, including how World Labs' team and technology will be integrated into AMD's operations, were not fully detailed in initial reporting.