According to the company, Scale AI has just fired about 200 full-time employees (14% of the 1,400 workforce) and 500 contractors.
This is when Meta invested $14 billion in Scale AI last month, leading a new super intelligence group to buy stocks at almost half the launch of data labeling as part of a blockbuster AI deal that included the hiring of Scale's former CEO Alexandr Wang.
The company is “restructuring” the Genai group, according to an email from Jason Droege, interim CEO of Scale, obtained by Business Insider. The Genai organization is the core of the scale that manages the work of most well-known AI chatbots, such as Xai's Grok and Google's Gemini.
One source told BI, and employees were locked out of the system and even disabled by Slack before they woke up.
Questions about the long-term sustainability of scale AI have swirled since Meta's investment, with some of the biggest clients of scale like Google suddenly halting projects in the wake of a deal. The company also faces questions about the security practices of its training documents, as revealed through a report by Business Insider.
The scale is well funded and is committed to growing and hiring hundreds of employees across different sectors, the startup told BI.
“As a result of this restructuring, some members of this organization will leave the scale today,” the email reads. “Don't come to the office to ensure a smooth process and give people the space they need.”
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Sources told BI that meta investment has weakened AI's core leadership, not only has Alexandre Wang set off, but the main VPS, staff chiefs and researchers left.
Layed-off Scalley employees will receive an additional salary of at least four weeks if they sign a company's retirement agreement, paying normally until September 15th, and following a separate email to the affected employees obtained by BI, they will receive an additional salary of at least four weeks.
“We are helping to streamline our data business, move faster and deliver even better data solutions to Genai customers,” Scale AI spokesman Joe Osborne told BI. “We also plan to invest heavily and hire large amounts of money across corporate and government AI companies.”
This is the complete email from Jason Droege, CEO of Scale AI, to expand its AI employees.
Hello team, After reviewing our company and its operations, I decided to rebuild some parts of the genai organization. I think these changes will help us best position ourselves in the long run, make our organization more efficient, and allow genai to focus on the biggest and most profitable opportunities. As a result of this reorganization, some members of this organization will be leaving the scale today. Don't come to the office to ensure a smooth process and give people the space they need. All shocked FTEs will receive emails to their personal email addresses by 8am, before 8am, and their IT access will be deleted. For those who are not affected, I will share details about the restructuring and our progress late this morning. We know that news like this can be difficult, but know how grateful you are for the work this team has done. Whether you are directly affected by these changes, each and every one of you has helped you scale up the company today and the results it has done. Thank you once more.
