World models & simulation · San Francisco, US · founded 2024
World Labs: who founded it, who funds it
World Labs is a San Francisco world model lab founded in 2024 by Fei-Fei Li, Justin Johnson, Ben Mildenhall and Christoph Lassner, who came from Stanford, Michigan, DeepMind and Meta. What it is building: spatial intelligence: large world models that generate explorable 3D worlds. Marble is the first product. It has raised $1.23B in disclosed rounds, most recently a Series B of $1B at a $5B valuation in February 2026. AMD agreed to acquire World Labs for $8.2B, announced 28 Sep 2026; pending close.
- Founders
- Fei-Fei Li (ex-Stanford), Justin Johnson (ex-Michigan), Ben Mildenhall (ex-Google DeepMind), Christoph Lassner (ex-Meta)
- Founders from
- ex-Stanford, ex-Michigan, ex-Google DeepMind, ex-Meta
- Location
- San Francisco, US (North America)
- Valuation
- $5B set by the last priced round
- Raised
- $1.23B disclosed
- Investors
- Andreessen Horowitz lead, NEA lead, Radical Ventures lead, Nvidia, AMD, Autodesk, Cisco
- What ships
- Marble world model, launched Nov 2025.
- Notes
- AMD agreed to acquire World Labs for $8.2B, announced 28 Sep 2026; pending close.
Rounds
| Date | Round | Amount | Valuation | Lead | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 18, 2026 | Series BValuation about $5B per Bloomberg; not disclosed by the company | $1B | $5B | · | worldlabs.ai |
| Sep 13, 2024 | Series A | $230M | $1B | Andreessen Horowitz, NEA, Radical Ventures | worldlabs.ai |
Sources
- Marble worldlabs.ai
- $5B talks finance.yahoo.com
- AMD will acquire World Labs for $8.2B (TechCrunch) techcrunch.com
- AMD newsroom announcement newsroom.amd.com
News
-
Oct 8, 2026
-
Oct 2, 2026
+3 more coverage
- WSJ AMD to Acquire World Labs for $8.2 Billion
- https://tech-insider.org/ AMD Buys World Labs for $8.2B, Fei-Fei Li Joins as Chief Scientist [2026]
- AMD AMD to Acquire World Labs to Advance the Future of AI Compute
-
Sep 28, 2026
+2 more coverage
- CNBC AMD acquiring Fei-Fei Li's World Labs AI firm in deal worth $8.2 billion
- Bloomberg.com Watch AMD Acquires Fei-Fei Li’s World Labs for $8.2 Billion
-
Feb 18, 2026
+1 more coverage
- Reuters AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li's World Labs raises $1 billion in funding
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Jan 23, 2026
-
Nov 12, 2025
Investors who back other labs here
- Nvidia also: Safe Superintelligence, Reflection AI, Skild AI, Poolside
- Andreessen Horowitz also: Safe Superintelligence, Thinking Machines Lab, TypeSafe AI, Luma AI
- AMD also: Thinking Machines Lab, Hark, Recursive Superintelligence, Luma AI
- Radical Ventures also: Decart, Generalist AI, Prime Intellect, Inherent
- NEA also: Sakana AI, CuspAI
- Cisco also: Thinking Machines Lab
Same research area
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