AMD to buy Fei-Fei Li's World Labs in $8.2 billion bet on 'physical AI'
Advanced Micro Devices entered a definitive agreement on September 28, 2026, to acquire World Labs, an AI research lab led by Dr. Fei-Fei Li, for approximately $8.2 billion in stock. The deal integrates World Labs' spatial AI models with AMD compute to advance physical AI systems capable of simulating three-dimensional spaces. Dr. Fei-Fei Li will join AMD as executive vice president and chief scientist, reporting to CEO Lisa Su. This acquisition represents AMD's second largest on record and is expected to close by the end of 2026.
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- ✓ AMD agreed to acquire World Labs for approximately $8.2 billion in an all-stock transaction.
- ✓ The deal was announced on September 28, 2026.
- ✓ Dr. Fei-Fei Li will serve as AMD's executive vice president and chief scientist.
- ✓ Fei-Fei Li will report to CEO Lisa Su.
What changed
AMD announced a definitive agreement to buy World Labs for $8.2 billion to integrate spatial AI models into its hardware ecosystem.
Live updates
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AMD to acquire World Labs for $8.2 billion in all-stock deal
Advanced Micro Devices entered a definitive agreement on September 28, 2026, to acquire World Labs, an AI research lab led by Dr. Fei-Fei Li, for approximately $8.2 billion in stock. The deal integrates World Labs' spatial AI models with AMD compute to advance physical AI systems capable of simulating three-dimensional spaces. Dr. Fei-Fei Li will join AMD as executive vice president and chief scientist, reporting to CEO Lisa Su. This acquisition represents AMD's second largest on record and is expected to close by the end of 2026.
Why it matters
World Labs was founded in 2024 and specializes in world models, which are critical for autonomous vehicles and robotics. This move allows AMD to compete more directly with Nvidia by expanding beyond chatbot-style AI into 3D workloads. The purchase price reflects a 52% premium over the startup's February valuation of $5.4 billion.
What is confirmed
- AMD agreed to acquire World Labs for approximately $8.2 billion in an all-stock transaction.
- The deal was announced on September 28, 2026.
- Dr. Fei-Fei Li will serve as AMD's executive vice president and chief scientist.
- Fei-Fei Li will report to CEO Lisa Su.
- The acquisition is expected to close by the end of 2026.
- World Labs develops models that simulate three-dimensional spaces.
- AMD had previously invested in World Labs before the acquisition.
Still unconfirmed
- The acquisition represents a 52% premium to a $5.4 billion valuation from a February Series C round.
- Nasdaq puts AMD's market cap near $1.03 trillion.
What to watch next
- Official closing of the transaction by year-end 2026
- Integration milestones for World Labs' spatial AI models with AMD MI chips
confidence 100%Sources used for this update (27)
- ir.amd.com — Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD)
- CNBC — AMD acquiring Fei-Fei Li's World Labs AI firm in deal worth $8.2 billion
- WSJ — AMD to Acquire World Labs for $8.2 Billion
- Yahoo Finance — AMD just spent $8.2 billion to enlist the 'Godmother of AI'
- newsroom.amd.com — AMD to Acquire World Labs to Advance the Future of AI Compute
- Reuters — AMD to buy Fei-Fei Li's World Labs in $8.2 billion bet on 'physical AI'
- Fortune — AMD snags AI’s ‘godmother’
- www.cnbc.com — AMD acquiring Fei-Fei Li's World Labs AI firm in deal worth $8.2 billion
- ir.amd.com — AMD to Acquire World Labs to Advance the Future of AI Compute
- www.briefs.co — AMD Agrees To Buy World Labs For $8.2 Billion
- en.wikipedia.org — AMD - Wikipedia
- finance.yahoo.com — Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) - Yahoo Finance
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