Yann LeCun, the legendary artificial intelligence researcher who helped build and shape Meta’s AI strategy, is already underway on his next big thing. Less than a month after announcing his departure from Mark Zuckerberg’s social media empire, the 65-year-old Turing Award winner has launched fundraising talks that would value his new venture at roughly $3.5 billion before it’s even launched.
The startup, Advanced Machine Intelligence (AMI) Labs, aims to create what LeCun calls “world models”: AI systems that understand physics, maintain persistent memory, and plan complex actions rather than simply predicting the next word. The company plans to establish its headquarters in Paris early next year, with LeCun serving as executive chairman. He’s even picked the CEO already: On Thursday, LeCun announced on LinkedIn that he’s selected Alexandre LeBrun, founder of French health-tech startup Nabla, to take on the chief executive role.
