Yann LeCun, former Meta chief AI scientist, announced on March 10, 2026 that his new startup Advanced Machine Intelligence (AMI Labs) has closed a $1.03 billion seed round, marking Europe's largest seed funding ever. The Paris-based company, valued at $3.5 billion pre-money, was founded just four months before the announcement and is focused on developing "world models" as an alternative to current large language model approaches.
Record-Breaking European Funding Round
The $1.03 billion (€890 million) seed round was co-led by Paris-based Cathay Innovation, Greycroft, Hiro Capital, HV Capital, and Jeff Bezos' Bezos Expeditions. Notable investors include NVIDIA, Samsung, Sea, Temasek, Toyota Ventures, and French entities Association Familiale Mulliez, Groupe Industriel Marcel Dassault, and Publicis Groupe. The funding represents unprecedented confidence in a company with no product or revenue.
Alexandre LeBrun, former CEO of French startup Nabla, serves as AMI's CEO, while LeCun, who left Meta in 2025, holds the position of executive chair. The company name "AMI" is pronounced like the French word for "friend."
World Models as the Next Generation of AI
AMI is developing world models — AI systems that learn how the real world works from video, audio, and sensor data, building internal representations that predict consequences of actions rather than generating text. LeCun has been vocal that large language models represent a "dead end" and that world models are the future of AI.
Key aspects of AMI's approach:
- First year focused entirely on research and development
- Initial focus on healthcare applications, partnering with Nabla
- No product or revenue expected in the near term
- Building AI that understands reality and predicts action consequences
Part of a Broader European AI Movement
This funding follows another ex-DeepMind researcher David Silver raising $1 billion last month for Ineffable Intelligence, signaling massive capital flowing into European AI startups pursuing alternatives to the LLM paradigm. The trend suggests Europe is positioning itself as a hub for next-generation AI research beyond current transformer-based models.
LeCun acknowledged that the company would spend its first year focused entirely on research and development. The $3.5 billion valuation for a company with no product represents an extraordinary bet on LeCun's vision and track record in AI research.
Key Takeaways
- AMI Labs closed a $1.03 billion seed round on March 10, 2026, Europe's largest seed funding ever
- The company is valued at $3.5 billion pre-money despite having no product or revenue
- AMI is developing "world models" that learn from video, audio, and sensor data rather than text-based LLMs
- The funding was co-led by Cathay Innovation, Greycroft, Hiro Capital, HV Capital, and Bezos Expeditions, with investments from NVIDIA, Samsung, and others
- AMI will focus its first year entirely on R&D with initial applications in healthcare