Meta has finalized a strategic partnership with Scale AI, investing approximately $14.3 billion for a 49% stake in the data-labeling startup. This deal values Scale AI at $29 billion. As part of the agreement, Scale AI’s co-founder and CEO, Alexandr Wang, will step down and join Meta to work on its superintelligence efforts. Jason Droege, Scale’s current chief strategy officer, will take over as interim CEO. The investment will be used to pay investors and shareholders, as well as to fuel Scale AI’s growth, though the company will remain independent. Wang will continue to serve on Scale AI’s board as a director. Meta’s spokesperson confirmed that the partnership will enhance their collaboration on producing data for AI models. This move comes as Meta seeks to boost its AI capabilities amid stiff competition from Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic. Scale AI has been a crucial partner for leading AI labs, providing labeled data to train their models. The company recently raised $1 billion from investors at a valuation of $13.8 billion, showing rapid growth in the AI data preparation space.
Meta Invests $14.3 Billion in Scale AI, Valuing Data-Labeling Startup at $29 Billion
By techgeekwire