Yann LeCun’s AMI Labs raises $1.03B to build world models

AMI Labs, co-founded by Turing Award winner Yann LeCun after leaving Meta, has raised $1.03 billion at a $3.5 billion pre-money valuation to focus on building "world models"—AI that learns from the real world, not just language.

CEO Alexandre LeBrun predicts world models will be the next major AI trend, contrasting AMI Labs' fundamental research focus with typical applied AI startups, noting that commercial applications may take years. The high interest in the company, which is also developing alternatives to LLMs due to hallucination risks, allowed it to select investors aligned with its long-term vision. The funding round was co-led by Cathay Innovation, Greycroft, Hiro Capital, HV Capital, and Bezos Expeditions, with participation from notable individuals and strategic backers like NVIDIA, Samsung, and Toyota Ventures.

The capital will fund compute power and talent acquisition across key locations: Paris (headquarters), New York, Montreal, and Singapore. While AMI Labs has no immediate revenue plans, it intends to engage partners early, with digital health startup Nabla being the first disclosed partner. True to LeCun's principles, the lab plans to publish research and open-source much of its code to foster community and accelerate progress.

(Source：TechCrunch)