Meta invests $14.3 billion in Scale AI and hires Alexandr Wang

Background

Scale AI is a company that provides data services to AI developers. Training and evaluating AI models requires large, carefully labelled datasets, and companies such as Scale sell that work to developers. Its customers included large technology companies, so its independence and its data handling mattered to them. The deal was announced on 12 June 2025 and tied Scale's founder to Meta's AI work.^[1]

What happened

On 12 June 2025 Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang told staff he was leaving as chief executive to join Meta's superintelligence efforts.^[1] Meta contributed $14.3 billion to Scale AI for a 49% stake in the company. The stake carried no voting power.^[1]

Key details

The investment. The $14.3 billion bought a 49% stake in Scale AI, without voting rights for Meta.^[1] A stake without voting power gives the holder a share of the economic interest but no say in how the company is run through votes.

Who ran Scale AI next. Wang stayed on Scale AI's board of directors. Jason Droege, the company's chief strategy officer, became chief executive.^[1]

Staff moves. A small number of Scale AI employees also joined Meta.^[1]

Customers. Scale said that customers including Google, Microsoft and OpenAI would be unaffected. Meta would not get access to Scale's business information or data.^[1] The statement addressed a question customers would naturally ask: whether a large investor from the AI industry would see their information.

New role at Meta. Weeks later Wang was named chief AI officer of Meta Superintelligence Labs, the new lab that Mark Zuckerberg announced at the end of June 2025.^[2]

Impact

Scale remained a separate company with its own chief executive. Scale said its customers would be unaffected, and Meta said it would not gain access to Scale's business data. Wang's move into Meta's AI leadership was one of the early steps in the company's superintelligence push.^[1][2]