Facebook-Parent Meta Invests $14.3 billion in data label startups Scale AIacquires 49% stake in the transaction. As part of the deal, Scale's 28-year-old co-founder and CEO Alexandr Wang will join Meta to lead the new Superintelligence unit, a major change in Tech Giant's AI strategy. Meta confirmed the partnership on Thursday, saying: Alexandre Wang Join Meta to tackle our super intelligence efforts. As part of the contract, Scalea cites an unknown source, saying that the main reason for Meta's substantial investment is considered an open-minded founder, unlike leaders that come from a background in research.By getting him on board, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg aims to revive AI ambitions that have recently fallen into rivals such as Google, Openai and China's Deepseek with staff exits and the launch of delayed AI models.Sent a note to an employee at Scaleai, Wang confirmed the exit from the company. He will remain on the board of directors of scale. Jason Droege, Scale's Chief Strategy Officer, will serve as interim CEO. Wang also told employees that 1,500 workers on a small scale would join him in the meta.
The second biggest investment in meta history
It is Meta's second-largest deal after buying a $19 billion WhatsApp with a $14.3 billion investment. The company said it is planning to win a board of directors of a size, according to a Reuters report.Founded in 2016, Scale delivers a wealth of labeled data that is essential for training advanced AI systems. This is done by managing gig workers through platforms such as remote and outliers. In May 2024, it was valued at nearly $14 billion, along with supporters such as Nvidia, Amazon and Meta.
Check out the full notes from Alexandr Wang here
Born into a Chinese immigrant physicist, the New Mexico king dropped out of MIT and began scaling, becoming a billionaire in his 20s. He has developed strong relationships in Silicon Valley and Washington DC, including Sam Altman of Openai and US lawmakers. Here's the complete note he shared on TwitterThanks team-When we founded Scale in 2016, it was a few of the early AL breakthroughs (Deepmind had just released Alphago and Google had just released Tensorflow, but it was still very early on. Still, it was clear that data was the lifeline of the AL system and that was the inspiration behind the starting scale. Since then, the journey has been extraordinary. We have grown to over 1,500 people, become trusted partners for model builders, businesses and governments, building and deploying the smartest AL tools and applications. Scale is currently one of the world's most influential companies and is accelerating the development of what could be the most important technology in human history. Today we are announcing a massive new investment from Meta. This is a major milestone and a strong validation of the hard work you've all put into the mission of scale. With this foundation, it's time to focus on the next chapter. We are building this company together. I was my life. I started this company right away in my freshman year and never looked back. Every moment and memory of the past decade is surrounded by you. And I won't change that amount. When this opportunity first appeared, my immediate response was uncertainty. The idea that it wasn't a scalp was frankly unthinkable. But I really spent time taking that into consideration, and I realized this is a very unique moment, not just for me, but for the scale. It provided a rare opportunity to give back to everyone who supported Shape Scale, while also setting the company on an even stronger trajectory for the future. Opportunities on this scale are often at a cost, as perhaps gathered from recent news. In this example, the cost is my departure. Being your CEO was definitely the greatest joy of my life. For me, I will leave a scale to participate in the meta and work on the meta AL effort along with some other scalps. It's bittersweet to start out as CEO, but I never leave the scale behind. I will remain as the board director and continue to support Scale's mission and long-term vision. As part of my transition, I look forward to sharing the board of that scale and agreed to Jason Doroge as intervening as interim CEO. Jason's superpowers in building and evolving businesses like Uber Eats and Axon give him the experience and skill set that makes him the perfect person for this role. Jason knows our business and knows what size it takes to implement the immeasurable opportunities ahead. Jason also works closely with our board of directors to hire a strong CTO to strengthen our engineering team. And let me be clear, I wouldn't be such a strong support! Also, today's investments allow us to recognise and give back the efforts and dedication we have to expand over the past few years. The revenue from Meta investments will be distributed to you, who are shareholders and vested interest holders, and will maintain an opportunity to continue to participate in future growth as a continuing stockholder. The exceptional team here was key to our success, so we are excited to be able to return favors with this meaningful liquidity distribution. thank you very much. Alex
