Fei-Fei Li's World Labs raises $1 billion to advance spatial intelligence and world models

World Labs lands $200M from Autodesk to bring world models into 3D workflows | TechCrunch

Fei-Fei Li's World Labs has secured a $200 million investment from software design giant Autodesk. The partnership will see the two companies collaborating to explore how World Labs' models -- AI systems that can generate and reason about immersive 3D environments -- can work alongside Autodesk's tools, and vice versa, starting with a focus on entertainment use cases. The deal is part of a larger round for World Labs, according to Autodesk, which declined to disclose further details. World Labs, which emerged from stealth in 2024 with $230 million at a $1 billion valuation, is reportedly now in talks to raise capital at a $5 billion valuation. World Labs did not immediately return a request for more details. For World Labs, Autodesk's investment is a signal that its product has commercial appeal. The startup's first world model product, Marble, released last November, lets users create editable, downloadable 3D environments. Autodesk is one of the biggest developers of 3D CAD (computer-aided design) software. Its platform underpins architectural, engineering, construction, manufacturing, and entertainment workflows. That focus on the built world makes investment in advanced spatial AI a natural extension of its core business. Or as Li put it in a statement: "Autodesk has long helped people think spatially and solve real-world problems and, together, we share a clear purpose: building physical AI that augments human creativity and puts more powerful tools in the hands of designers, builders, and creators." As part of the deal, Autodesk will serve as an advisor to World Labs, and the two will collaborate at the "research and model level." Daron Green, Autodesk's chief scientist, told TechCrunch the partnership is still in its early days, so the precise form it's going to take hasn't been determined yet. "You could anticipate us consuming their models or them consuming our models in different settings," Green said. He mused that customers might like to start with a world-model-based sketch in World Labs (say, of an office layout) and then drill down on certain design aspects (like the design of the desk), which is where Autodesk's tech might come in. "Similarly, you might want to take an object that you've designed in our [platform], and put it in a context that you create through one of [World Labs's] prompts," Green said. Green added that data sharing is not part of the agreement. Green said the two companies plan to start with media and entertainment use cases. Most companies building world models -- including Google DeepMind and Runway -- see gaming and interactive entertainment as an initial go-to-market strategy. Autodesk already works with most major media production companies and has been training models for character animation. "These are close to world models," Green said. "They're a characterization of an animal in the world that's responding to physical constraints like time, maybe a terrain it needs to traverse. So there's a physical understanding in the model, and you can see how that might be combined [with World Labs's tech]. You're not just animating the dog, but you're giving it a world within which it can now interact." The partnership with World Labs supports Autodesk's broader push to integrate more AI features across its software portfolio. The company is developing "neural CAD," a new kind of generative AI model trained on geometric data that can reason about components and entire systems. Put simply, it can generate working 3D models, not just images, with an understanding of how those designs would function in the real world. Autodesk's neural CAD models are already being integrated into the firm's product design and architecture products as a step toward more advanced spatial intelligence. But World Labs' models could help extend that capability beyond individual design files toward more holistic digital representations of the physical world. Green thinks different AI systems, including large language models, world models and neural CAD, will be combined in the future to improve designs for Autodesk's customers. "If AI is to be truly useful, it must understand worlds, not just words," Li said in the statement. "Worlds are governed by geometry, physics, and dynamics, and reconciling the semantic, spatial, and physical is the next great frontier of AI."

AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li's World Labs raises $1 billion in funding

Feb 18 (Reuters) - Prominent computer scientist Fei-Fei Li's World Labs raised $1 billion in a funding round as the startup accelerates its efforts to advance "spatial intelligence," it said on Wednesday. The startup said the investors included semiconductor companies AMD (AMD.O), opens new tab, Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab, software firm Autodesk (ADSK.O), opens new tab, Emerson Collective, Fidelity Management & Research Company and Sea (SE.N), opens new tab, among others. Separately, Autodesk said it invested $200 million in World Labs and will serve as an adviser to the startup. World Labs did not disclose a valuation. Bloomberg News reported in January that the startup was in funding discussions at a valuation of about $5 billion. The startup did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Spatial intelligence, a novel approach to AI, refers to the ability to reason how the 3D world works -- rather than relying on 2D data like flat images or text. World Labs' foundational models can perceive, generate and interact with the 3D world. Spatial intelligence models, according to Li, could be put to use in the future for augmented and virtual reality or robotics. Widely known as the "godmother of AI," Li raised $230 million in September 2024 to launch World Labs. World Labs, along with Google DeepMind (GOOGL.O), opens new tab and other startups, is working on so-called "world models" that can process visual data from the physical environment around them to develop advanced reasoning. Google DeepMind's Genie family of models can generate and simulate 3D environments. Similarly, World Labs has said that its Marble multimodal world model creates 3D worlds from image or text prompts. Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab

Fei-Fei Li's World Labs raises $1bn to advance spatial intelligence

The round was backed by big names including Nvidia, AMD and Autodesk. Fei-Fei Li's AI start-up World Labs has raised $1bn to advance spatial intelligence - effectively, generative AI "world models" capable of interacting with complex virtual worlds. Last November, World Labs launched its first commercial product called Marble that generates 3D virtual worlds from image or text prompts. With this new funding, the start-up wants to continue building AI models to "revolutionise storytelling, creativity, robotics [and] scientific discovery". The round was backed by big name investors including Nvidia; AMD; Fidelity Management and Research Company; Autodesk; Emerson Collective; and Sea. The start-up did not disclose its post-funding valuation, however, reports from last month estimated it to end up at $5bn. Autodesk has invested $200m in World Labs as part of the round, and with the funding, has also taken an advisory role in the start-up. "Autodesk has long helped people think spatially and solve real-world problems and, together, we share a clear purpose - building physical AI that augments human creativity and puts more powerful tools in the hands of designers, builders and creators," Li said. Li is often referred to as the 'godmother of AI', thanks to her groundbreaking work on ImageNet. Her start-up World Labs came out of stealth in 2024, and was valued at around $1bn after a $230m investment round that included Andreessen Horowitz, Nvidia's venture arm and Radical Ventures, where she is herself a scientific partner. World Labs describes itself as a "spatial intelligence company, building frontier models that can perceive, generate, reason and interact with the 3D world". It describes its AI products as "large world models". Li called AI a "civilisational technology" in an interview with Bloomberg late last year. "I believe spatial intelligence is as critical [as] - and complementary to - language intelligence," she said. The World Labs co-founder is a professor at the computer science department at Stanford University and has served as director of the university's AI Lab. She is currently the co-director of the Stanford Human-Centered AI Institute and has previously served as the chief scientist at Google Cloud. Don't miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic's digest of need-to-know sci-tech news. Fei-Fei Li, 2024. Image: © Steve Jurvetson via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

World Labs closes $1B investment backed by Nvidia, AMD and Autodesk - SiliconANGLE

World Labs closes $1B investment backed by Nvidia, AMD and Autodesk Artificial intelligence model developer World Labs Inc. today announced that it has raised $1 billion in funding. The capital was provided by a consortium that included Nvidia Corp., Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Autodesk Inc. and several others. The engineering software maker invested $200 million. Autodesk's cash infusion will lay groundwork for an AI research collaboration with World Labs. World Labs was founded in 2024 by pioneering AI researcher Fei-Fei Li. It raised about $230 million in funding before today's round. The company develops world models, neural networks that generate interactive three-dimensional virtual environments. World Labs debuted its first AI model in November. Marble, as the algorithm is called, can generate 3D environments based on user-provided text, images and videos. A tool called Chisel makes it possible to refine those environments after they're generated by entering natural language instructions. According to World Labs, one of the use cases to which Marble can be applied is robotics software development. Many robots are powered by onboard AI models. Those models, in turn, are usually trained in a simulated version of the environment where their host robots are deployed. Marble can generate a virtual replica of a robot's operating environment and export it to third-party simulation software. A job posting indicates that World Labs plans to increase its focus on the robotics market in the wake of its new funding round. The company is seeking a research engineer who can help it build SLAM, or simultaneous localization and mapping, systems. SLAM is a navigation technique that robots use to find their way around unfamiliar environments. World Labs has also an opening for a 3D reconstruction specialist. Robots use 3D reconstruction software to assemble data collected by their sensors into maps. Such maps are an important component of SLAM systems. A third job posting states that World Labs is developing world models that can "generate, reason, and interact with the 3D world." Autodesk plans to collaborate with the company at the "research and model level." According to TechCrunch, the partnership could see the software giant integrate World Labs into its portfolio of engineering and design tools. Autodesk's software is used for, among other tasks, programming industrial robots. The partnership will initially focus on entertainment use cases. Media and entertainment companies use Autodesk's design tools to create visual assets such as special effects. World Labs' inaugural Marble model can automate some of the manual work involved in such projects. The company's raise comes a few days after another world model startup called Runway Inc. closed a $315 million investment of its own. That round also included contributions from Nvidia and AMD. Runway's newest model, GWM-1, enables robotics companies to test their AI software in simulations.

AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li's World Labs raises $1 billion in funding

The startup said on Wednesday the investors included chip companies AMD, Nvidia, software firm Autodesk , Emerson Collective, Fidelity Management & Research Company and Sea, among ⁠others. Prominent computer scientist Fei-Fei Li's World Labs raised $1 billion in a funding round as the startup accelerates its efforts to advance "spatial intelligence." The startup said on Wednesday the investors included chip companies AMD, Nvidia, software firm Autodesk , Emerson Collective, Fidelity Management & Research Company and Sea, among ⁠others. Autodesk invested $200 ⁠million in World Labs and will serve as an adviser to the startup, the design software maker said. World Labs did not disclose a valuation. The startup did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Bloomberg News reported in January that the startup was in funding discussions at a valuation of ⁠about $5 billion. Spatial intelligence, a novel approach to AI, refers to the ability to reason how the 3D world works - ⁠rather than relying on 2D data like flat images or text. World Labs' foundational models can perceive, generate and interact with the 3D world. Widely known as the "godmother of AI," Li raised $230 million in September 2024 to launch World Labs. Li has said spatial intelligence models could be put to use in the future for augmented and virtual reality or robotics. World Labs, along with Google DeepMind and other startups, is working on so-called "world models" that can process visual data from the ⁠physical environment around them to develop advanced reasoning. Yann LeCun, formerly Meta's chief AI scientist, left the Facebook-parent to launch his startup, AMI Labs, which will focus on developing AI systems using world models. Google DeepMind's Genie family of models can generate and simulate 3D environments. Similarly, World Labs has said that its Marble multimodal world model creates 3D worlds from image or text prompts.

World Labs Raises $1 Billion to Scale Spatial AI | PYMNTS.com

By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions. "We are focused on accelerating our mission to advance spatial intelligence by building world models that revolutionize storytelling, creativity, robotics, scientific discovery and beyond," World Labs said in a Wednesday (Feb. 18) blog post announcing the funding. The company said in the post that its first product is Marble, an AI model that enables users to create 3D worlds from images, video or text. PYMNTS reported in July 2024 that World Labs is the brainchild of Li and that the firm achieved unicorn status in its first four months. The firm aims to teach computers to see and understand the world in three dimensions, which could revolutionize industries from healthcare to manufacturing. When World Labs announced in September 2024 that it raised $230 million, it said it was working to build large world models (LWMs) that "perceive, generate and interact with the 3D world." "We aim to lift AI models from the 2D plane of pixels to full 3D worlds -- both virtual and real -- endowing them with spatial intelligence as rich as our own," the company said at the time in a blog post. PYMNTS reported at the time that spatial AI, a technology that allows machines to understand and interact with 3D environments, was gaining traction in the AI industry and could have applications in architecture, robotics, entertainment and other industry sectors. When World Labs launched Marble in November, PYMNTS reported that the product signaled a shift in the AI landscape as companies move beyond language and image models toward systems that can generate and reason over 3D environments. Marble also represented World Labs' transition from research to commercialization, as the company made the product available through freemium and paid tiers that support exports in Guassian splats, traditional meshes and video files, which allows integration with creative pipelines, simulation tools and real-time rendering agents. Li said Feb. 4 that as AI systems move closer to execution rather than analysis, their limitations are becoming less about reasoning in text and more about understanding and acting within physical environments. "The ability to understand, to reason, to interact with and to navigate the real 3D, 4D physical worlds is the foundation," Li said.

AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li's World Labs raises $1 billion in funding

Feb 18 (Reuters) - Prominent computer scientist Fei-Fei Li's World Labs raised $1 billion in a funding round as the startup accelerates its efforts to advance "spatial intelligence," it said on Wednesday. The startup said the investors included semiconductor companies AMD, Nvidia, software firm Autodesk, Emerson Collective, Fidelity Management & Research Company and Sea, among others. Separately, Autodesk said it invested $200 million in World Labs and will serve as an adviser to the startup. World Labs did not disclose a valuation. Bloomberg News reported in January that the startup was in funding discussions at a valuation of about $5 billion. The startup did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Spatial intelligence, a novel approach to AI, refers to the ability to reason how the 3D world works -- rather than relying on 2D data like flat images or text. World Labs' foundational models can perceive, generate and interact with the 3D world. Spatial intelligence models, according to Li, could be put to use in the future for augmented and virtual reality or robotics. Widely known as the "godmother of AI," Li raised $230 million in September 2024 to launch World Labs. World Labs, along with Google DeepMind and other startups, is working on so-called "world models" that can process visual data from the physical environment around them to develop advanced reasoning. Google DeepMind's Genie family of models can generate and simulate 3D environments. Similarly, World Labs has said that its Marble multimodal world model creates 3D worlds from image or text prompts. (Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)