Meta Invests $14.3B in Scale AI as CEO Wang Joins Tech Giant

 

June 13, 2025 — Scale AI, a prominent data-labeling startup, announced on Friday that it has secured a “significant” investment from Meta Platforms Inc., with the social media and technology giant acquiring a 49% stake in the company. The investment reportedly totals $14.3 billion, valuing the San Francisco-based firm at approximately $29 billion.

As part of this strategic partnership, Scale AI also confirmed a major leadership change. Co-founder and CEO Alexandr Wang will step down from his executive role at the startup to join Meta and contribute to its artificial intelligence development efforts. He will continue to serve on Scale’s board of directors.

In the interim, Jason Droege, Scale AI’s current Chief Strategy Officer, will take over as acting CEO.

Strengthening AI Through Strategic Collaboration

Meta confirmed the deal in a statement shared with TechCrunch, saying:

“Meta has finalized our strategic partnership and investment in Scale AI. As part of this, we will deepen the work we do together producing data for AI models and Alexandr Wang will join Meta to work on our superintelligence efforts.”

Meta added that more details about its evolving AI initiatives and the newly integrated team will be revealed in the coming weeks.

While financial specifics were not disclosed in Scale’s own press release, sources familiar with the deal indicate the $14.3 billion figure, making it one of the largest strategic AI-related investments of the year. Meta’s move is seen as part of a broader effort to catch up with AI leaders such as OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Anthropic.

Scale AI to Remain Independent

Despite Meta’s substantial ownership stake, Scale AI emphasized that the company will remain an independent entity. The newly injected capital will be used to fund future growth and pay out to existing shareholders and early investors.

Founded in 2016 by Wang, Scale AI has become a critical infrastructure provider for generative AI development. The company supplies high-quality labeled data used to train large language models (LLMs) and other AI systems. Its customers include leading AI labs and technology firms that depend on accurate, high-resolution data to improve model performance.

Over the past few years, Scale has expanded from a data-annotation service into a more specialized provider, increasingly hiring technical experts such as PhDs and senior engineers to meet the rising quality demands from frontier AI labs.

Meta’s AI Push

This partnership comes amid Meta’s continued push to enhance its AI capabilities. While the company has made significant advances with its open-source LLaMA models, it has faced stiff competition from firms like OpenAI and Anthropic in terms of both research and commercial applications.

According to recent data from SignalFire, Meta lost 4.3% of its top AI talent to rival companies in 2024, underlining the urgency behind efforts to strengthen internal expertise and acquire access to high-quality AI training data.

Meta’s investment in Scale AI follows earlier funding rounds, including a $1 billion raise in 2024 where both Amazon and Meta were reported as key investors. That round had pegged the company’s valuation at $13.8 billion, meaning its valuation has more than doubled in under a year.

Leadership Transition

Wang’s transition to Meta represents a significant milestone for both companies. At just 28, Wang has been considered one of the most influential figures in AI infrastructure development. His shift to Meta is expected to accelerate the company’s superintelligence agenda—an initiative aimed at developing next-generation AI systems capable of advanced reasoning and general intelligence.

Industry observers note that while Wang’s departure from the CEO role is notable, his continued involvement as a board director suggests he will remain engaged with Scale AI’s strategic direction.

Meanwhile, interim CEO Jason Droege brings operational experience to the role. Droege, a former executive at Uber, has served in senior strategy and operations positions at Scale since 2022.

The investment comes during a time of rapid growth and consolidation within the AI industry. As competition among large tech firms intensifies, access to high-quality training data and talent has become a key differentiator.

With this deal, Meta not only secures a stronger foothold in the data supply chain of AI development but also gains direct access to Wang’s expertise—potentially providing the momentum it needs to keep pace with leading AI labs.

Neither Meta nor Scale has disclosed further financial or product roadmaps related to this partnership. However, both companies expressed optimism about the collaboration’s potential to shape the future of AI systems.

Wang is expected to play a leading role in Meta’s next-generation AI strategy, with sources indicating that his initial focus will involve aligning model training pipelines with more precise, human-curated data inputs.

For now, the broader AI community is watching closely to see how this high-profile partnership reshapes the competitive dynamics of a rapidly evolving industry.