Meta has taken a bold step to reshape its artificial intelligence ambitions by acquiring a 49% stake in Scale AI, valuing the data-labeling startup at $29 billion.
As part of the deal, Scale’s 28-year-old co-founder and CEO, Alexandr Wang, will join Meta to spearhead its new superintelligence initiative.
While Meta did not disclose financial terms in its official statement, two sources familiar with the matter confirmed the $14.3 billion cash investment. The primary motivation behind the deal, according to insiders, was to bring Wang into Meta’s leadership fold to reinvigorate its AI strategy.
“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 said in a statement.
Wang, a high-profile Silicon Valley entrepreneur who dropped out of MIT to launch Scale AI, has gained attention for his rapid rise. Born in Los Alamos, New Mexico, to physicist parents, Wang built Scale into a multibillion-dollar firm serving both private and government clients, including major contracts with the U.S. federal government. His close ties with key industry figures like OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and his testimony before Congress have further solidified his status as a powerful figure in AI and tech policy circles.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has faced recent struggles in the AI race, falling behind rivals like OpenAI, Google, and DeepSeek. Internal departures and delays in releasing new open-source models have raised concerns about its competitiveness. CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to bring in Wang, a business-driven leader rather than a research-focused one, signals a strategic pivot toward commercially grounded AI leadership, echoing the styleAltman at OpenAI.
Although Wang does not have a traditional research background, he has built Scale into a core infrastructure provider for AI training data. Meta is hoping his entrepreneurial experience and business acumen can breathe new life into its superintelligence efforts.
Jason Droege, Scale’s chief strategy officer, will take over as interim CEO. Wang will remain on the board of Scale, which employs roughly 1,500 people. A small group of scale employees will also transition to Meta alongside him.
Meta has clarified that it does not intend to take a board seat at Scale, helping the company maintain operational independence. This investment marks Meta’s second-largest ever, following its $19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp in 2014.
While it’s not yet clear whether the transaction will attract regulatory scrutiny, Meta is already facing legal challenges from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission over alleged anticompetitive behaviour tied to its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp.
This high-stakes move signals Meta’s intent to reassert itself in the global AI race by betting on the leadership of one of the field’s most influential young entrepreneurs.
