Ian LeCun’s new venture, AMI Labs, has attracted intense attention since AI scientists left the meta to find it. This week, the startup finally confirmed what it’s building — and several key details were hidden in plain sight.

on it Newly launched websiteThe startup has revealed its development plan ‘World Model’ In order to “build intelligent systems that understand the real world.” The focus on world models was already hinted at by AMI’s name, which stands for Advanced Machine Intelligence, but it has now officially joined the list of hottest AI research startups.

Building fundamental models that bridge AI and the real world has become the field’s most exciting pursuit, attracting top scientists and deep-pocketed investors alike — product or no product.

World Labs, a direct competitor founded by AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li, became a unicorn shortly after. Coming out of theft. after Launched its first productMarble, which physically creates Sound 3D World, is now World Labs In the said discussion To raise new funds at a $5 billion valuation.

No doubt VCs will be equally keen to invest in LeCun, adding credence to rumors that AMI Labs could raise funding. At a valuation of $3.5 billion. According to Bloomberg, VCs in talks with the startup include Cathay Innovation, Greycroft and Hero Capital, while Lekun an advisor. Other potential investors include 20VC, Bpifrance, Daphni, and HV Capital.

Regardless of who writes the check, investors may want to note one important detail: As LeCun has has been clearedHe is the Executive Chairman of AMI, not its CEO. Instead, that role belongs to Alex LeBrun, previously co-founder and CEO of Nabla, a health AI startup with offices in Paris and New York.

LeBrun’s switch from Nabla to AMI is part of a partnership announcement Last December by Nabla, which makes AI assistants for clinical care and for which LeCun was an advisor. In exchange for “privileged access” to AMI’s global models, Nabler’s board supported LeBrun’s transition from CEO to chief AI scientist and chairman, clearing the way for his new role.

As CEO of AMI Labs, LeBrun will be surrounded by familiar faces. After Facebook Acquired his previous startupWit.ai worked at Meta’s AI research laboratory, FAIR, led by serial entrepreneur and AI engineer LeCun. According to ReportThe duo will be joined by Laurent Solio, who resignation As Meta Vice President of Europe last December.

The talent overlap between AMI and Meta probably doesn’t stop there. write told MIT Technology Review That his former employer could be AMI’s first client. But he has also publicly criticized some of Meta’s strategic choices under Mark Zuckerberg’s direction. More broadly, the review interprets AMI Labs as a contrarian bet against large language models (LLM).

Among the limitations of LLM that LeBrun points out is hallucinations, which are a serious concern in contexts like medicine, as LeBrun also knows first hand. CEO of AMI Labs told Forbes A big reason he took the role was the possibility of applying its global model to healthcare. But the startup will also target other high-stakes applied areas.

“AMI Labs will advance AI research and develop applications where reliability, controllability and security are truly important, particularly in industrial process control, automation, wearable devices, robotics, healthcare and beyond,” it wrote in its mission statement. “We share a belief: true intelligence does not begin in language, it begins in the world.”

Unlike generative approaches, which LeCun and his team see as poorly suited to unpredictable data like sensor input, the startup promises that its AI systems will not only understand the real world, but also have persistent memory, the ability to reason and plan, and be controllable and secure.

The startup plans to license its technology to industry partners for real-life applications, but says it plans to contribute to building the future of AI “with the global academic research community through open publications and open source.” LeCun said he plans to keep his professorship at NYU, where he teaches one class each 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 is “going to be a global company. [that’s] Headquarters in Paris.” French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the news expressed his pride That LeCun, also a Touring Prize winner, chose Paris. “We will do everything we can to ensure his success from France,” he said.

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