Chip manufacturer AMD has agreed to acquire World Labs for $8.2 billion, thereby bringing under its umbrella this startup founded by Li Feifei, a pioneer and researcher in the field of artificial intelligence.
Two companies stated in a statement on Monday that this all-stock transaction is expected to be completed before the end of the year, although it still requires approval from regulatory authorities.
AMD is NVIDIA's main competitor in the AI chip market. With this acquisition, AMD will gain a team of top researchers and their models, and will further understand the development trends in the field of artificial intelligence, which will help the company plan its future hardware products.
AMD CEO Su Zifeng stated on Monday: 'The deeper your understanding of end-to-end processes, the better systems you can create.'
"This is why we acquired World Labs," said Su Zifeng, "to obtain the world-class talents gathered by Feifei and combine them with AMD's capabilities in hardware, software, and systems."
World Labs is developing what is known as a "world model," which refers to AI software that can run applications in the physical world. These models are capable of generating and reconstructing three-dimensional environments. The startup claims that this technology can be used to drive advancements in the fields of robotics, scientific discovery, and factory equipment.
Li Feifei previously served as the CEO of World Labs. She is a renowned researcher and computer scientist at Stanford University. According to the agreement, she will join AMD to assume the position of Executive Vice President and Chief Scientist, reporting directly to Su Zifeng.
"As the company grows, so do our ambitions," Li Feifei said in an interview. She added that this also increases the startup's demand for computing power.
She stated, "At this stage, if we are able to collaborate with AMD, we are actually giving ourselves, AMD, and the entire ecosystem a chance to accelerate the flywheel effect between software and hardware development."
