Yann LeCun just pulled back the curtain on AMI Labs, and the AI legend's new venture is making waves before it's even raised a dollar. The startup confirmed this week it's building world models to create AI systems that understand the real world - putting it on a collision course with rival World Labs, which just hit a reported $5 billion valuation. With LeCun as executive chairman and a leadership team poached from Meta, AMI is already in funding talks at a $3.5 billion valuation, according to Bloomberg.
AMI Labs just became the latest entrant in AI's hottest race - and it's got one hell of a pedigree. Yann LeCun's new venture confirmed this week that it's building world models, the cutting-edge AI architecture that promises to bridge the gap between artificial intelligence and physical reality. The startup's mission is deceptively simple: "build intelligent systems that understand the real world."
The announcement puts AMI squarely in competition with World Labs, founded by AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li, which became a unicorn shortly after emerging from stealth. World Labs recently launched Marble, a product that generates physically sound 3D worlds, and is now reportedly in talks to raise fresh funding at a $5 billion valuation according to Bloomberg. Building foundational models that understand physics, space, and causality has become one of AI's most exciting pursuits - attracting top scientists and deep-pocketed investors alike, product or no product.
VCs are already circling. AMI Labs might be raising funding at a $3.5 billion valuation, with investors including Cathay Innovation, Greycroft, and Hiro Capital (to which LeCun is an advisor) reportedly in talks, according to Bloomberg. Other potential backers include 20VC, Bpifrance, Daphni, and HV Capital. That's a massive number for a startup that just launched its website, but LeCun's track record speaks for itself - the Turing Prize winner pioneered convolutional neural networks and led 's AI research lab FAIR for years.
