Recently, World Labs, a startup founded by Stanford University's renowned artificial intelligence professor Fei-Fei Li, has once again drawn attention. According to multiple media reports, the company has completed two rounds of financing within just two months, with its latest valuation surpassing $1 billion, entering the ranks of "unicorn" companies.
Insiders indicate that the latest round of financing for World Labs was led by the prestigious venture capital firm NEA. The Financial Times previously reported that this round of financing amounted to $100 million. One insider revealed that compared to the $200 million valuation in the first round of financing in April this year, the current valuation has significantly increased. Reuters reported that investors in the first round included Andreessen Horowitz and Canadian company Radical Ventures.
World Labs was established in April and has grown into a unicorn company with a valuation exceeding $1 billion in just four months, reflecting investors' ongoing enthusiasm for AI startups, especially those founded by renowned AI scientists. Although World Labs' business model has yet to be validated by the market, its research direction is highly regarded in the industry.
It is reported that World Labs is dedicated to developing AI models that can accurately estimate the three-dimensional physical properties of real-world objects and environments, aiming to achieve detailed digital replication without the need for large-scale data collection. An investor familiar with the company said, "Three-dimensional data in the world is very scarce. Autonomous driving companies need to drive thousands of miles to collect this data, and in other application areas, such as coffee services, three-dimensional data is even more scarce. The cost of collecting such data is extremely high."
Fei-Fei Li, known as the "AI mother," discussed in a TED talk earlier this year how to train machines to develop human-like "spatial intelligence." Industry insiders believe that once in use, World Labs' models are expected to play a significant role in areas such as gaming and robotics applications.
It is worth mentioning that Fei-Fei Li is renowned for creating the ImageNet dataset, which revolutionized the field of computer vision. Currently, she is on sabbatical and is expected to return to Stanford University in December 2025 to continue serving as the co-director of the Human-Centered AI Institute.