What Worlds We See Through World Labs: FoundersX Ventures Backs Physical AI Pioneer

FoundersX Ventures today announced its investment in World Labs, a breakthrough company building foundational physical AI models that deliver true spatial intelligence — the missing link between today’s digital AI and the physical world.

Led by Dr. Fei-Fei Li — the visionary “Godmother of AI” and author of the acclaimed book The Worlds I See — World Labs is redefining what’s possible when AI truly understands and simulates reality. Co-founded with leading experts Justin Johnson, Christoph Lassner, and Ben Mildenhall, the company is creating world models that go far beyond current offerings from Big Tech.

“We backed World Labs because they are solving one of the hardest and most consequential problems in AI: building persistent, physically coherent 3D world models that can reason about space, objects, and causality,” said Helen Liang, PhD, founder and managing partner of FoundersX Ventures. “While Google’s Genie 3 excels at generating interactive video environments and Nvidia’s platforms are powerful for robotics simulation, World Labs’ Marble stands apart with its ability to create high-fidelity, editable, and temporally consistent 3D worlds from minimal inputs. This is the kind of foundational spatial intelligence needed to bridge digital and physical realities at scale.” 

In the rapidly evolving physical AI space, several players are advancing world models and simulation. Google’s Genie series focuses on video-based interactive environments, while Nvidia leverages its Omniverse and robotics platforms for high-fidelity industrial simulation. Other notable efforts include startups like Physical Intelligence (Pi) working on embodied AI. What makes World Labs special is its deep technical rigor combined with a fundamental focus on persistent, editable 3D spatial models that maintain physical laws and long-term consistency. Powered by Dr. Fei-Fei Li’s unparalleled expertise in visual intelligence, World Labs is uniquely positioned to deliver generalizable world models that excel not just in narrow simulations but in open-ended, creative, and real-world applications.

Marble, World Labs’ flagship multimodal world model, represents a major technical leap. It can generate rich, persistent 3D environments from text, images, videos, or panoramas. Users can interactively edit objects, expand scenes, combine worlds, and maintain physical consistency — capabilities that enable rapid iteration and real-world applicability.

Recent updates have further strengthened Marble with precise layout control, AI-native editing tools, and exports to Gaussian splats, meshes, and video. These advancements make it uniquely powerful for complex, long-horizon tasks.

The investment in World Labs perfectly complements FoundersX’s AI-Space portfolio, which includes SpaceX, Turion Space, FS2, Charge Robotics, and Mbodi AI. By adding world-class spatial simulation capabilities, FoundersX is building a full-stack ecosystem for the emerging orbital compute and physical AI economy.

World Labs’ technology carries transformative potential across industries:

• Filmmaking and Visual Effects: Rapid generation of photorealistic virtual sets and environments, slashing production timelines and costs while expanding creative freedom.
• Gaming: Faster world-building and more immersive, persistent game environments.
• Robotics Training: High-fidelity simulation that dramatically improves sim-to-real transfer for advanced embodied AI systems like mBodi.
• Architecture, Design, Automotive & Aerospace: Accurate 3D modeling, virtual prototyping, and scenario testing at unprecedented speed and realism.

“Dr. Fei-Fei Li’s lifelong mission has been to help machines truly see and understand the world,” said Liang. “World Labs is turning that vision into reality. We are proud to support this team as they unlock new frontiers where AI doesn’t just generate content — it understands and shapes the physical world around us.”

As the AI industry shifts from language and 2D generation toward embodied and spatial intelligence, World Labs is exceptionally well positioned to lead. For FoundersX, this investment is another strategic step toward the multi-trillion-dollar convergence of AI, space, and physical infrastructure.

About FoundersX Ventures

FoundersX Ventures is a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm focused on investing in pioneering tech companies building AI infrastructure and disruptive solutions across industries. The firm partners with visionary founders building transformative solutions to shape the future. Beside Silicon Valley, the firm has offices in Boston and New York City. Selected investments: SpaceX, World Labs, Turion Space, Universal Quantum, Charge Robotics, FS2, Salt Security, Jeeves, Kapital, Alinea Invest, and Solve Intelligence. For more information, visit www.foundersx.com.

Media Contact

Tor Parawell
tor.parawell@foundersx.com