{"id":10109,"date":"2025-06-11T09:04:16","date_gmt":"2025-06-11T09:04:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=10109"},"modified":"2025-06-11T09:04:16","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T09:04:16","slug":"meta-to-invest-14-billion-in-scale-ai-after-lackluster-reception-to-llama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=10109","title":{"rendered":"Meta to invest $14 billion in Scale AI after lackluster reception to Llama"},"content":{"rendered":"
Meta is making its largest bet yet on artificial intelligence, finalising a $14 billion deal to invest in Scale AI, a prominent startup in data labelling and AI model training.<\/p>\n

The move comes as Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg grows increasingly frustrated with the company’s standing in the fast-evolving AI race, with rivals like OpenAI seemingly ahead in both AI models and consumer applications.<\/p>\n

Meta will take a 49% stake in Scale AI, according to CNBC.<\/p>\n

In addition to the investment, Zuckerberg is hiring Scale AI\u2019s co-founder, Alexandr Wang, to lead a new AI research lab within Meta.<\/p>\n

Wang, known for his technical expertise and business acumen, will join Meta with a team of his colleagues to strengthen the company\u2019s AI capabilities, particularly following the lacklustre reception of Meta\u2019s recent Llama AI models.<\/p>\n

Meta taking a 49% stake in Scale AI for $14.8B, investors and employees get paid.<\/p>\n

Meta prob wanted to acquire them but didn\u2019t want to go through regulatory approval so found this roundabout scheme.<\/p>\n

Alexandr will run Meta\u2019s superintelligence lab, and Scale will find a new ceo pic.twitter.com\/I2nuBgIA6T
\n\u2014 Sheel Mohnot (@pitdesi) June 10, 2025<\/p>\n

This strategic partnership follows a broader trend in the tech industry, where companies like Google and Microsoft have taken large stakes in AI startups such as Character.AI and Inflection AI, rather than acquiring them outright.<\/p>\n

There is speculation that Meta, currently in a high-profile antitrust trial with the Federal Trade Commission, is reportedly keen to avoid further scrutiny from regulators, hence the decision to invest rather than acquire.<\/p>\n

Founded in 2016, Scale AI has established itself as a key player in the AI space, providing data labelling services to major tech companies, including Meta\u2019s competitors, OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft.<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s valuation reached $14 billion in its most recent funding round.<\/p>\n

Scale AI has expanded its presence beyond tech into the defence sector, securing a multimillion-dollar deal with the US\u00a0Department of Defense in March.<\/p>\n

Wang\u2019s reputation as a \u201cwartime CEO\u201d who understands the complexities of AI and the global competition, particularly with China, has made him an appealing figure for Zuckerberg.<\/p>\n

It’s a very interesting deal structure where Meta effectively controls Scale AI, doesn’t have to go through antitrust review and acquires top talents including Alexander Wang while paying half of the cash it needs to buy up the whole company.<\/p>\n

On another note, this may be a\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/nFJFPlwQre
\n\u2014 Han (@hhua_) June 10, 2025<\/p>\n

Wang has publicly spoken about the need for the US\u00a0to increase its computational capacity to remain competitive in AI, calling it an \u201cAI war\u201d between the US\u00a0and China.<\/p>\n

This shift in Meta\u2019s approach highlights Zuckerberg\u2019s recognition that external talent may be needed to accelerate its AI ambitions.<\/p>\n

With Wang\u2019s experience and Scale AI\u2019s advanced capabilities, Meta is positioning itself to improve its AI models and enhance its competitive edge in a rapidly evolving industry.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meta is making its largest bet yet on artificial intelligence, finalising a $14 billion deal to invest in Scale AI, a prominent startup in data labelling and AI model training. The move comes as Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg grows increasingly frustrated with the company’s standing in the fast-evolving AI race, with rivals like OpenAI seemingly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10109","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10109"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10109\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10109"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10109"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10109"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}