AMD announced today that it's acquiring World Labs, an AI research lab co-founded by the prominent researcher Dr. Fei-Fei Li, in an all-stock deal worth approximately $8.2 billion. World Labs launched in 2024 and was valued at $1 billion in a matter of months. The startup launched its first commercial product, a world generation model called Marble that lets users make interactive 3D worlds from a prompt, in 2025 .

The deal is expected to close by the end of the year. Li will become EVP and chief scientist at AMD, reporting to AMD CEO Lisa Su, while the World Labs team will "continue to focus on advancing AI model research." AMD also notes t …