Yann LeCun Raises $1 Billion Seed Round for AMI Labs to Build World Models
Yann LeCun, the Turing Prize-winning AI researcher who recently left Meta, has raised $1.03 billion in a seed round for his new startup Advanced Machine Intelligence Labs (AMI Labs). The funding values the Paris-based company at $3.5 billion pre-money, making it Europe's largest seed round ever.
What Is AMI Labs Building?
AMI Labs is focused on building "world models" — AI systems that learn from reality rather than just from language. Unlike the large language models (LLMs) that power ChatGPT and Claude, world models aim to understand the physical world, not just predict the next word in a sentence.
The technology is based on JEPA (Joint Embedding Predictive Architecture), a framework LeCun proposed in 2022 as an alternative to current generative AI approaches. LeCun has long argued that LLMs, while impressive, are fundamentally limited because they lack a genuine understanding of the world.
The Team Behind AMI Labs
AMI Labs boasts a heavyweight team of AI researchers and business leaders:
- Yann LeCun — Chairman, Turing Prize winner, former Chief AI Scientist at Meta
- Alexandre LeBrun — CEO, former Nabla CEO, previously worked at Meta's FAIR lab
- Laurent Solly — COO, former VP for Europe at Meta
- Saining Xie — Chief Science Officer
- Pascale Fung — Chief Research & Innovation Officer
- Michael Rabbat — VP of World Models
Who's Investing?
The round was co-led by Cathay Innovation, Greycroft, Hiro Capital, HV Capital, and Bezos Expeditions. Notable backers also include NVIDIA, Samsung, Sea, Temasek, and Toyota Ventures.
High-profile individual investors include Tim and Rosemary Berners-Lee, Jim Breyer, Mark Cuban, Xavier Niel, and Eric Schmidt.
No Revenue Plans — Yet
AMI Labs CEO Alexandre LeBrun was refreshingly honest about the timeline. "AMI Labs is a very ambitious project because it starts with fundamental research. It's not your typical applied AI startup that can release a product in three months," he said. The company has no plans to generate revenue in the near term.
The startup's first disclosed partner is Nabla, a digital health company where LeBrun previously served as CEO. AMI Labs will also operate from four key locations: Paris (headquarters), New York, Montreal, and Singapore.
Open Source Commitment
In a move that sets it apart from many well-funded AI startups, AMI Labs has committed to publishing research papers and making code open source. "We think things move faster when they're open, and it's in our best interest to build a community and a research ecosystem around us," LeBrun said.
The Bottom Line
A billion-dollar seed round for fundamental AI research with no revenue timeline is either a bold bet on the future of intelligence or the most expensive science experiment in startup history. AMI Labs CEO himself predicts "world models" will become the next buzzword within six months, with every AI company rushing to rebrand. Whether LeCun's vision of AI that truly understands reality will pan out remains to be seen, but with $1 billion and a star-studded team, AMI Labs certainly has the runway to find out.