Yann LeCun, the renowned computer scientist and Turing Prize winner, has garnered significant attention with the launch of his new venture, AMI Labs. After leaving Meta, LeCun finally started one himself. It is trying to create a new breed of AI systems that can interpret the physical world, reason about it and plan for it. AMI Labs has impressed those in the know, particularly venture capitalists. They’re allegedly negotiating to raise a Series F that would give them a staggering $3.5 billion valuation.
T. LeCun, executive chairman of AMI Labs. At the same time, Alex LeBrun, former co-founder and CEO of Nabla, takes over as the new CEO. This leadership structure is a good sign that the company is serious about bringing deep expertise and creativity to bear as they execute against their ambitious mission. LeCun plans to remain a professor at New York University. He teaches an average of one class per year and supervises PhD students, as well as postdoctoral researchers.
This will be the case as AMI Labs has decided to base its headquarters in Paris. The large, strategic play seeks to bolster the city’s already growing reputation as a global center for artificial intelligence. Laurent Solly, who has just resigned as Meta’s vice-president for Europe. He’ll be working on the team with LeCun and LeBrun. LeCun expressed confidence in the global potential of AMI Labs, stating, “It is going to be a global company that’s headquartered in Paris.”
AMI Labs has plans to open additional offices in Montreal, New York and Singapore. French President Emmanuel Macron celebrated Paris’s selection to host the headquarters with an unusual level of gusto. It was pride in LeCun’s decision and a personal and professional pledge of support. “We will do everything we can to ensure his success from France,” Macron stated in a recent interview.
LeCun envisions AMI Labs as a pioneer in developing AI systems that surpass the limitations currently observed in large language models (LLMs). These systems are meant to address shortcomings like hallucinations and offer safer, more dependable, and more controllable AI products. The startup’s mission emphasizes that “real intelligence does not start in language. It starts in the world,” aligning with its goal to create intelligent systems capable of understanding their environment.
In an intriguing development, LeCun suggested that his employer Meta might in fact be one of AMI Labs’ inaugural customers. This very close connection illustrates the relationship between LeCun and his former employer. Further, it underscores the startup’s willingness to collaborate with overall far more capable and experienced big tech players.
And, indeed, venture capital firms are circling AMI Labs like vultures. Big name investors such as Cathay Innovation, Greycroft and Hiro Capital are already in conversation with StreetLight about making future investments. LeCun is a big picture advisor to Hiro Capital, which makes further evident the level and depth of his influence across the AI investment landscape.
AMI Labs is dedicated to building AI systems with long-term memory and deep reasoning abilities. This community-driven approach represents a huge break from the norm. The startup’s work centers on building smart systems that understand the physical world for what it really is. Safety and controllability are their main focus, concerns that are essential for more advanced implementation across numerous sectors.
As AMI Labs embarks on this journey, it brings fresh perspectives on AI development while fostering collaboration between academia and industry. Beyond being an engineer, LeCun is a notable educator and entrepreneur. His experience from both perspectives puts him in a fascinating position to influence the direction of AI research and applications.