Meta has announced a finalized investment and strategic partnership with AI startup Scale AI, along with recruiting Scale AI founder and CEO Alexandr Wang to join Meta. Scale AI issued a statement revealing that Meta's significant investment has pushed the company's valuation beyond US$29 billion, while Wang will join Meta to work on AI-related projects but retain his board position at Scale AI. Going forward, chief strategy officer Jason Droege will serve as interim CEO, with Scale AI continuing independent operations.
A Meta spokesperson stated that the two companies have formed a strategic collaboration aimed at jointly enhancing AI model training data production.
Neither party disclosed specific transaction details.
Reuters and Bloomberg, citing insiders, reported that Meta's investment in Scale AI could reach as high as US$14.3 billion, acquiring 49% of non-voting shares. Analysts suggest this move is designed to avoid regulatory scrutiny typically associated with acquisitions.
Insiders also revealed that Wang will join Meta's "superintelligence" division, focusing on developing artificial general intelligence (AGI) comparable to human-level intelligence.
This deal marks Meta's largest external AI investment and its second-largest overall investment, trailing only behind the US$19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp.
Previously, media outlets including The New York Times cited sources indicating that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had grown dissatisfied with the company's AI progress over recent months, especially following the lukewarm reception of Llama 4. As a result, Zuckerberg personally recruited AI talent and rearranged office seating to bring the new team closer to him.
Google DeepMind researcher Jack Rae and Sesame AI machine learning lead Johan Schalkwyk are also reportedly joining Meta's superintelligence division.
Article edited by Jack Wu
