Abu Dhabi-Based Shorooq Invests In Paris-Headquartered AMI Labs’ US$1.03 Billion Seed Round

Abu Dhabi-based venture capital (VC) firm Shorooq has announced its participation in a US$1.03 billion funding round for Paris-based AMI Labs, the newly launched artificial intelligence (AI) company founded by French-American Yann LeCun, the former Chief AI Scientist at global technology company Meta, who is also a winner of the Turing Award, an annual prize given for contributions of lasting and major technical importance to computer science. 

The round, which values AMI Labs at approximately $3.5 billion pre-money and ranks among the largest seed financings ever raised by an AI startup, was co-led by investors like San Francisco-based Cathay Innovation, New York-based  Greycroft, London-based Hiro Capital, Munich-based HV Capital, and Bezos Expeditions, a family office of Jeff Bezos, the founder of the global e-commerce giant Amazon. 

Shorooq joined the round alongside the Singapore-based global investment company Temasek, US-based AI and semiconductor company NVIDIA, and the Seoul-based early-stage VC arm of SoftBank Group, SBVA, as well as individual investors such as American entrepreneur and investor Mark Cuban, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, and French telecommunications entrepreneur Xavier Niel. 

Founded in 2025, AMI Labs is developing an approach to AI based on what it calls “world models,” a framework that has been designed to move beyond systems that primarily predict text or images. Instead, the architecture seeks to enable AI systems to learn from spatial and real-world data, allowing them to reason using cause-and-effect relationships, and interact more effectively with the physical world. 

While LeCun serves as Executive Chair of AMI Labs, the startup is led by CEO Alexandre LeBrun, previously the co-founder and CEO of healthcare AI company Nabla. Headquartered in Paris, AMI Labs also operates offices in New York, Montreal, and Singapore, and the startup is expected to initially focus on enterprise use cases across manufacturing, aerospace, robotics, and biomedical sectors. 

For Shorooq, the decision to back the company reflects the Abu Dhabi-based firm’s broader focus on technologies that could reshape how AI systems are built and deployed. Speaking to Inc. Arabia, Dr. Bilal Baloch, Partner at Shorooq, said the firm was drawn to the company given its underlying research direction and leadership.

Dr. Bilal Baloch, Partner, Shorooq. Image supplied.

“Rather than relying primarily on predicting text or images, world models aim to enable AI systems to learn from spatial and real-world data, allowing them to reason about cause and effect and interact with the physical world more intelligently," Dr. Baloch noted. "Combined with the leadership of LeCun and LeBrun, this approach signals a deeper attempt to rethink the foundations of AI itself, rather than simply building incremental improvements on existing models. We believe this kind of research-driven paradigm shift has the potential to unlock the next generation of AI capabilities.” 

Alongside the technological opportunity, the investment also reflects Shorooq’s broader approach of linking global startups with markets and partners across the MENA, as the region continues to expand its AI ambitions. “The region is increasingly positioning itself as a strategic hub for AI development, supported by strong sovereign investment, infrastructure, and regulatory support," Dr. Baloch said. "While AMI Labs is currently focused on building its core technology across its global offices, we believe there could be strong opportunities over time to explore partnerships and collaborations in the region. As global AI companies look to expand their footprint, the Middle East offers a growing ecosystem of capital, talent, and industrial partners that can support the next wave of AI development." 

Pictured in the lead image is AMI Labs founder and Executive Chair Yann LeCun. Image courtesy AMI Labs.