AI pioneer Yann LeCun, former chief AI scientist at Meta and co-recipient of the Turing Award, has launched AMI Labs, a new startup focused on building “world models”, AI systems that learn from and reason about the physical world. The company announced a $1.03 billion seed funding round, one of the largest early-stage raises globally and the biggest ever for a European AI startup.
Investors in the round include Bezos Expeditions, Nvidia, Samsung, Toyota Ventures, Temasek, Mark Cuban, and more, reflecting strong confidence in AMI’s vision. The funding will support research teams in Paris (headquarters), New York, Montreal, and Singapore, and will allow the company to focus on foundational AI research rather than immediate product launches.
Unlike traditional AI systems that rely mainly on text and pattern recognition, AMI’s world models aim to understand cause and effect, remember past experiences, plan actions, and interact with real-world environments. The startup sees applications across robotics, healthcare, autonomous systems, and industrial operations, where accurate, reliable decision-making is crucial.
LeCun will serve as executive chair, with Alexandre LeBrun as CEO, Laurent Solly as COO, and Saining Xie as chief science officer. AMI plans to publish research and open-source much of its code to encourage collaboration and accelerate progress in the AI community.
The startup’s first commercial partner is Nabla, a healthcare AI firm, which plans to integrate AMI’s technology to improve decision-making in critical applications. AMI’s founders emphasize that the company will focus on long-term research and practical AI capabilities, rather than chasing quick revenue or replicating large language models.
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