Meta is making a bold $14 billion investment in Scale AI, taking a 49% stake in the data-labeling and AI training startup after underwhelming results from its Llama AI models.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg, frustrated with Meta’s lag in the AI race, is also bringing on Scale AI co-founder Alexandr Wang to lead a new internal AI lab. Wang will join Meta with key members of his team, aiming to fast-track the company’s AI innovation.
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This strategic move follows a trend of big tech firms investing in, rather than acquiring, AI startups—possibly to avoid regulatory hurdles, especially as Meta faces a major antitrust trial with the FTC.
Scale AI, valued at $14 billion, already serves Meta’s competitors like OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google, and recently inked a defense contract with the US government. Wang’s leadership and his framing of AI as a national competition with China add further urgency to Meta’s shift in strategy.
