AMD said it will acquire World Labs in an all-stock deal valued at about $8.2 billion.
Why it matters: The deal deepens semiconductor-and-AI consolidation and gives AMD a foothold in spatial intelligence and physical AI. It also brings Fei-Fei Li and World Labs' research talent closer to AMD's hardware and systems roadmap.
- AMD announced the deal Sept. 28, 2026, after signing the merger agreement Sept. 26, 2026.
- World Labs was founded in 2024 by Fei-Fei Li, Justin Johnson, Ben Mildenhall and Christoph Lassner.
- Fei-Fei Li will join AMD as executive vice president and chief scientist, reporting to CEO Lisa Su.
- AMD expects the transaction to close by the end of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals and closing conditions.
AMD said it entered into a definitive agreement to acquire World Labs, an AI model and research lab led by Fei-Fei Li, in an all-stock transaction valued at about $8.2 billion.
The company said the move is aimed at strengthening its ability to develop AI hardware, software and systems around emerging models and applications. Lisa Su said, "Building the compute platforms for the next generation of AI requires a deep understanding of how models are evolving."
World Labs is based in San Francisco and develops spatial-intelligence models for generating, reconstructing and simulating interactive 3D environments from text, image and video inputs. Its first product, Marble, became generally available Nov. 12, 2025 as a multimodal world model for creating 3D worlds from text, images, video or coarse 3D layouts.
Fei-Fei Li said the deal will give her team "the resources and engineering depth to accelerate our research and help define the infrastructure needed for the next era of AI." She also said advancing the next generation of AI requires close collaboration across model research, systems and compute.
Reuters reported the deal gives AMD a foothold in physical AI and spatial-intelligence research, an area focused on helping AI systems model three-dimensional environments and physical interactions. AMD said the transaction is expected to close by the end of 2026, pending regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.
By the numbers
- $8.2 billion - Approximate value of the all-stock transaction.
- 2026-09-26 - Date AMD signed the merger agreement, according to its SEC filing.
- 2026-12-31 - AMD expects the deal to close by the end of 2026.
Yes, but: AMD and World Labs have not disclosed detailed antitrust timing, breakup terms or the post-close org chart beyond Fei-Fei Li's role.
What's next: AMD says the deal remains subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions, with closing expected by the end of 2026.