YannLeCun Archives - Corporate Updates

Yann LeCun’s AMI labs nets $1bn to build real-world AI

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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AI scientist LeCun leaves Meta for new startup

Yann LeCun, one of the world’s leading artificial intelligence researchers, has confirmed that he is leaving Meta to start his own AI company. LeCun, often called the “godfather of AI,” has spent 12 years at Meta, first as the founding director of FAIR (Facebook AI Research) and later as the company’s Chief AI Scientist.

LeCun said that his new startup will focus on Advanced Machine Intelligence (AMI, a type of AI designed to truly understand the world, remember information over long periods, reason through complex situations, and plan multi-step actions. Unlike most current AI systems, which excel at predicting text or generating content, LeCun wants machines that can think and learn in a more human-like, problem-solving way.

Although LeCun is leaving his full-time role at Meta, he emphasized that Meta will remain a partner in his new venture. Some of his company’s research may align with Meta’s commercial projects, while other work will remain purely experimental and exploratory.

LeCun has often criticized the current hype around large language models, saying they are powerful but limited. He believes real breakthroughs in AI will come from models that combine learning with reasoning and understanding.

LeCun thanked Meta executives, including Mark Zuckerberg, Andrew Bosworth, Chris Cox, and Mike Schroepfer, for their support and collaboration over the years.

His departure comes at a time when Meta is reorganizing its AI efforts under a new division called Superintelligence Labs, now led by Alexandr Wang.

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