Cisco Investments Backs Fei-Fei Li’s World Labs to Advance Large World Models and Next-Generation Spatial Intelligence

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• Cisco Investments is investing in World Labs, which aims to accelerate the development of Large World Models (LWMs) that enable AI systems that can perceive, understand, and interact with the physical world in 3D.
• World Labs is at the frontier of spatial intelligence, developing foundational AI models that bridge the gap between virtual and real-world environments.
• This investment underscores Cisco's role as the critical infrastructure provider for the AI era.

Cisco announced that Cisco Investments, its venture capital arm, is investing in World Labs Technologies, Inc., a spatial intelligence AI startup. Founded by Dr. Fei-Fei Li, a renowned computer vision pioneer often called the "godmother of AI," World Labs is driving the next paradigm shift in artificial intelligence. The company enables machines to understand and interact with 3D environments using human-like spatial intelligence, with the potential to transform industries such as gaming and robotics. This marks World Lab's largest strategic investment to date.

"The next great platform evolution in AI will be built around spatial intelligence," said Jeetu Patel, President and Chief Product Officer, Cisco. "By joining Fei-Fei and the world-class World Labs team on this journey, we are accelerating the development of a future where AI takes an active role in the physical environment with agents and devices capable of transforming industries, augmenting human capacity, and driving massive gains in productivity."

"World Labs is driven by a single passion: advancing AI to augment human potential and deliver real-world impact," said Fei-Fei Li, Co-founder and CEO, World Labs. "Cisco's leadership in secure, scalable infrastructure is a critical enabler for the next generation of AI and the evolution of physical AI. We are thrilled to work with them as we bring our vision to life."

"The evolution of AI from linguistic intelligence to spatial intelligence marks the next revolutionary leap, as models move beyond understanding language to reasoning about, generating, and interacting with the physical world. World Labs is pioneering this frontier with Large World Models," said Martin Casado, General Partner at a16z. "We've long shared Fei-Fei's vision for spatial intelligence and see huge potential for changing how AI engages with the world. Cisco's investment reflects the importance of secure, scalable infrastructure in advancing this new era of AI."

This strategic investment in World Labs underscores Cisco's commitment to its multi-pronged innovation strategy encompassing R&D, investments, M&A, and strategic partnerships across the AI landscape. By supporting World Labs' pioneering work in developing LWMs, Cisco continues to reinforce its role as the critical infrastructure provider for the AI era, empowering customers globally to harness the power of secure, reliable, and trustworthy AI across digital and physical applications.