Yann LeCun raising €500M at €3B valuation for new AI startup (sifted.eu)

Yann LeCun, the outgoing chief AI scientist at Meta, is in discussions to raise €500 million for his new startup, Advanced Machine Intelligence (AMI) Labs, which is expected to launch early next year with a valuation of approximately €3 billion. Alexandre Lebrun, co-founder of the Paris-based AI startup Nabla, is set to become the CEO of AMI Labs, while also maintaining his role as chair and chief AI scientist at Nabla. This transition comes as part of a strategic partnership between the two companies, aiming to leverage their combined expertise in AI. AMI Labs is focused on developing "world models," which differ from traditional large-language models by enabling systems to understand and interact with the physical world using text, video, and spatial data. LeCun believes that these world models could significantly advance applications in robotics and other fields, particularly positioning Europe as a counterbalance to the Silicon Valley emphasis on generative models. By establishing AMI Labs in Paris, LeCun aims to cultivate European AI talent and innovation, highlighting the importance of diversifying the AI landscape beyond the established epicenters.