AMD takes an $8 bln leap at Nvidia
AMD•AMD is acquiring AI startup World Labs in an all-stock deal valued at $8.2 billion. The deal is part of AMD’s effort to combine chips, systems, software and models for robotics and compete with Nvidia.
1. AMD pursues robotics
AMD is using its stock to acquire World Labs, a startup developing world models that can help train robots by building working representations of three-dimensional reality. The all-stock deal is valued at $8.2 billion; World Labs was co-founded by AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li and received investment from AMD earlier this year.
2. Building a broader platform
The acquisition is among several deals, including those for Taalas, ZT Systems and Silo AI, intended to help AMD combine chips, systems, software and models. Nvidia’s Omniverse platform has a lead in the market, while Nvidia’s CUDA software has helped make its products an industry standard for training AI models.
3. Market opportunity
JPMorgan estimates robotics could be a $2.5 trillion market by 2035. Chips and software account for roughly 6% of a robot’s bill of materials, and Epoch AI says drone output rose about 30% last year to around 16 million units worldwide.
