Yann LeCun, one of the most influential figures in artificial intelligence and a Turing Award winner, has joined 224 Ventures, a newly launched investment firm focused exclusively on early-stage AI startups. The firm launched on August 5 with over $100 million in assets under management.

LeCun isn’t going solo on this. Oriol Vinyals, formerly the technical co-lead on Google’s Gemini model at DeepMind, is also joining 224 Ventures.

LeCun’s departure from Meta was reported back in November 2025, where he had served as the company’s chief AI scientist. Since leaving, he founded Advanced Machine Intelligence, known as AMI Labs, and took on the role of Executive Chairman. AMI Labs raised a $1.03 billion seed round in early 2026.

224 Ventures hasn’t disclosed specific portfolio companies or fund partners yet.

Why crypto investors should care about an AI fund

224 Ventures has made zero references to crypto, blockchain, or digital tokens. This is a pure-play AI investment vehicle.

Capital allocation is a zero-sum game at the margin. Every institutional dollar flowing into AI-focused venture funds is a dollar that isn’t flowing into crypto venture funds. Crypto-native projects that incorporate AI functionality, from decentralized compute networks to on-chain inference protocols, may actually benefit from the rising tide. But pure-play crypto ventures without an AI angle could find fundraising increasingly competitive.

The AI venture capital boom in context

224 Ventures is entering a market that has been running hot. AMI Labs’ billion-dollar seed round exists in an environment where AI companies regularly command valuations that would have seemed absurd in any prior era.

Firms like a16z, Paradigm, and Polychain have been diversifying into AI. The launch of a dedicated AI fund led by LeCun and Vinyals raises the bar for what crypto venture funds need to offer founders.