Who is behind AMI Labs, Yann LeCun’s ‘world model’ startup

Yann LeCun’s new project, AMI Labs, has attracted a lot of attention since the AI ​​scientist left Meta to found it. This week, the startup confirmed what it’s building — and a lot of the big stuff has been hiding in the open.

On his own new websitethe founders revealed his creative intentions “Model world” to “create intelligent systems that understand the real world.” The focus on global models was previously referred to by the name AMI, which stands for Advanced Machine Intelligence, but has now joined one of the leading AI research startups.

Creating the first models that connect AI to the real world has been one of the most exciting things in the field, attracting top scientists and deep-pocketed investors – stock or nothing.

World Labs, a direct competitor founded by AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li, became a unicorn shortly after. going out in secret. After introducing his first drugMarble, which creates a beautiful 3D world, World Labs now they say they are talking raising new capital at a cost of $5 billion.

There is no doubt that VCs will be eager to invest in LeCun, adding credence to rumors that AMI Labs may be raising money. at a cost of $3.5 billion. According to Bloomberg, VCs in talks with the startup include Cathay Innovation, Greycroft, and Hiro Capital, where LeCun and a mentor. Other potential investors are said to be 20VC, Bpifrance, Daphni, and HV Capital.

Regardless of who writes the checks, investors may want to know more: As LeCun has it’s clearhe is the executive chairman of AMI, not their CEO. Instead, the role belongs to Alex LeBrun, former co-founder and CEO at Nabla, a health AI startup with offices in Paris and New York.

LeBrun’s transition from Nabla to AMI is part of the agreement he announced Last December it was Nabla, which makes AI assistants for healthcare and for which LeCun has been a consultant. In exchange for “access” to AMI’s global brands, Nabla’s board supported LeBrun’s transition from CEO to chief AI scientist and chairman, paving the way for a new initiative.

As CEO of AMI Labs, LeBrun will be surrounded by familiar faces. After Facebook he found his old originWit.ai, a multidisciplinary entrepreneur and AI engineer worked under LeCun’s leadership at Meta’s AI research laboratory, FAIR. According to reportsthe pair will also be joined by Laurent Solly, who he came down as Meta’s vice president for Europe last December.

The combination of talent between AMI and Meta may never end. LeCun he told MIT Technology Review that his former employer may be AMI’s first client. But he has also publicly criticized some of Meta’s decisions made under Mark Zuckerberg’s leadership. In general, the Review defines AMI Labs as a bet against the larger language models (LLMs).

The limitations of LLMs that LeCun points out include hallucinations, which are just as worrisome as drugs, as LeBrun knows firsthand. CEO of AMI Labs he told Forbes that the main reason for their participation was the hope of using international models in clinical practice. But the reboot will also look at some of the most used parts.

“AMI Labs will advance AI research and develop applications where reliability, control, and safety are critical, particularly in industrial process control, automation, wearables, robotics, healthcare, and more,” it wrote. “We share one belief: true intelligence does not begin in language. It begins in the world.”

Unlike traditional methods, which LeCun and his team consider to be unsuitable for unknown data such as device input, the startup promises that its AI systems will not only understand the real world, but also have continuous memory, the ability to think and plan, and be in control and secure.

The startup plans to license the technology to industry partners for virtual reality applications, but says it also plans to help build the future of AI “with a global research community through open-source and open-source.” LeCun said he plans to keep his professorship at NYU, where he teaches one class a year and supervises PhD and postdoctoral students.

That means the French-born researcher will remain in New York, but he told MIT Technology Review that AMI Labs “will be a global company (located) in Paris.” The news was welcomed by French President Emmanuel Macron, who he showed his pride that LeCun, who is also a Turing Award winner, chose Paris. “We will do everything we can to make him succeed from France,” he said.

The start-up will also have offices in Montreal, New York, and Singapore, but its decision to choose Paris for its headquarters will help consolidate the reputation of Paris as an AI hub, where it will join H, Mistral AI and several international labs, including FAIR. It’s fitting, perhaps, that AMI is pronounced a-mee — like “ami” in French, meaning “friend,” LeCun said.