Shorooq Joins $1.03B Round for Yann LeCun AI Startup

UAE investor backs AMI Labs, the new Paris-based venture founded by the former Meta AI chief scientist.

UAE-based investment firm Shorooq has joined a $1.03 billion funding round for AMI Labs (Advanced Machine Intelligence), a Paris-based artificial intelligence startup founded by former Meta Chief AI Scientist Yann LeCun.

The financing round is among the largest seed-stage investments ever raised by an AI startup and values the company at approximately $3.5 billion pre-money, according to reports.

The deal reflects growing global interest in advanced AI research aimed at developing systems that can understand and interact with the real world.

Global Investors Join the Round

The funding round was co-led by several international venture capital firms, including:

Cathay Innovation
Greycroft
Hiro Capital
HV Capital
Bezos Expeditions

Shorooq participated alongside a broad group of investors that included:

Temasek
Nvidia
SBVA
Mark Cuban
Eric Schmidt
Xavier Niel

The strong investor lineup highlights the growing competition to back next-generation artificial intelligence companies.

Vision for a New Generation of AI

Dr. Bilal Baloch, partner at Shorooq, said the firm believes AMI Labs represents a major technological leap.

“AMI Labs represents one of the most ambitious efforts to redefine the foundations of artificial intelligence,” he said.

According to Baloch, the company’s research into world-model architectures could significantly expand how machines understand and interact with their environment.

What Are World Models in AI?

AMI Labs is developing a new type of artificial intelligence based on world models, an approach that moves beyond the current generation of large language models.

Most AI systems today learn primarily by predicting text, images, or other digital content.

World-model AI, however, focuses on learning from spatial data and real-world environments.

These systems attempt to model how the physical world works, including cause-and-effect relationships, movement, and interactions between objects.

Building AI That Understands the Real World

The goal of world-model AI is to allow machines to reason, plan, and act more effectively in complex environments.

Instead of simply generating responses or images, AI agents built on world models could understand how events unfold in real-world situations.

This capability could support applications such as:

Robotics
Autonomous systems
Industrial automation
Advanced simulation environments

By enabling machines to build internal representations of the world, developers hope to create AI systems capable of making better decisions in dynamic environments.

Yann LeCun’s Influence in AI Research

AMI Labs was founded by Yann LeCun, one of the most influential figures in artificial intelligence research.

LeCun previously served as Chief AI Scientist at Meta and is widely known for pioneering work in deep learning and neural networks.

His research has played a significant role in the development of modern AI systems used in image recognition, speech processing, and machine learning.

With AMI Labs, LeCun aims to push AI development beyond current limitations by focusing on systems that understand physical reality.

Growing Global Investment in AI

The scale of the funding round reflects the accelerating global race to build advanced AI technologies.

Investors worldwide are directing large amounts of capital into companies developing foundational AI infrastructure, new models, and advanced research platforms.

For venture firms such as Shorooq, participation in the AMI Labs round signals confidence in the long-term potential of next-generation AI architectures.