Valued at Rp 129 Trillion, Who is Fei-Fei Li?

The technology world has been shocked by a massive acquisition deal. Chipmaker AMD has officially acquired the artificial intelligence research company World Labs, founded by the renowned scientist Fei-Fei Li, for US$8.2 billion, or approximately Rp 129 trillion.

This acquisition represents one of AMD’s largest steps towards strengthening its position in the global AI technology competition, according to a report from TechCrunch on Tuesday (29/9/2026).

While the name Fei-Fei Li may not be widely known to the general public, she is considered one of the most influential figures of her generation in the field of artificial intelligence. She is a professor of computer science at Stanford University, USA.

Li’s reputation soared due to the development of the ImageNet database, a project that fundamentally changed how machines recognise images and objects. Her work serves as the foundation for almost all image recognition systems used today, ranging from smartphones that recognise their owners’ faces to autonomous vehicles that navigate highways.

In 2024, she founded World Labs with the goal of developing a form of artificial intelligence that does not merely understand text, but understands the physical world in its entirety, including shapes, movement, the properties of objects, and the natural laws that govern them. Following the completion of this purchase, Fei-Fei Li will join AMD directly as Vice President and Chief Scientist, bringing with her the vision and the team she has built.

The purchase price of Rp 129 trillion is not merely about buying a company, but about acquiring capabilities that few others possess. The technology developed by World Labs is referred to as a ‘world model’—an AI system capable of understanding and simulating physical environments much like humans do.

This differs from the widely known AI systems that are proficient at arranging words or summarising information but do not necessarily understand the underlying meaning. This technology is believed to be the key to developing intelligent robots that can move freely among humans, more reliable self-driving vehicles, and machines capable of responding directly to changes in their surroundings.

As Nvidia’s primary competitor is known to possess a similar system called Cosmos, the purchase of World Labs provides AMD with equivalent capabilities that can be integrated directly with its own production chips. The company’s first product, named Marble, is capable of creating highly realistic simulated environments for both entertainment and the training of machines intended for real-world operations.

“We now have tangible proof of what is possible, and we want to do everything we can to accelerate the future. To achieve this, we need expansion of scale, broader reach, and direct proximity to hardware,” said Fei-Fei Li when announcing the deal.

This move marks a significant shift in the global technology landscape. AMD is no longer just selling hardware in the form of chips, but also possesses advanced AI software designed to run optimally on its own devices, following the same pattern established by its competitors.

The competition between the two major powers, led by figures often described as distant relatives—Jensen Huang of Nvidia and Lisa Su of AMD—is intensifying. The battle is no longer just about who can manufacture the fastest chip, but also about who can provide the most powerful AI to run upon it.

The world model developed by Fei-Fei Li is expected to become the foundation for the next generation of technology, where machines will no longer merely process information sent to them, but will be able to observe, understand, and even predict what will happen in their surroundings.