AMD buys AI world model startup World Labs for $8.2 billion

Fei-Fei Li's AI startup World Labs is being acquired by AMD for $8.2 billion. Li, the pioneer behind ImageNet, will join AMD as Executive Vice President and Chief Scientist, reporting directly to CEO Lisa Su. World Labs brings its spatial intelligence models, including Atlas, which generates and simulates 3D environments from minimal input. AMD gains its own AI research unit focused on physical-world models, sharpening its competition with Nvidia.