Meta pours substantial funds into Scale AI, welcomes its CEO on board
In a game-changing move, social media behemoth Meta has shelled out a staggering sum, reportedly between $14.3 billion to $15 billion[1][2][3], securing a 49% stake in AI pioneer, Scale AI. This investment catapults Scale AI's valuation beyond the $29 billion mark.
In a twist, Scale AI's founder and CEO, Alexandr Wang, will be shifting gears to join Meta. His new role will center around driving Meta's ambitious AI initiatives, particularly their pursuit of "superintelligence"[2][3]. Despite his new role at Meta, Wang will maintain his position as a director on Scale AI's Board, ensuring a continued focus on human values within Scale AI's mission of harnessing AI's power[2].
The investment strengthens Meta's commercial ties with Scale AI, accelerating the deployment of Scale's data solutions. This strategic move positions Meta to better rival AI giants like OpenAI and Google[3].
Scale AI's services extend to businesses, governments, and research labs, leveraging AI to unlock untapped potentials. Last year, they unveiled an AI model developed in collaboration with Meta, refined from Meta's Llama 3 model. This custom model is primed for U.S national security missions, including the planning of military or intelligence operations and understanding adversary weaknesses[4].
Meta, with its Generative AI (Gen AI) assistant, recently boasted impressive usage figures. According to their CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, this assistant is utilized by a billion people each month across their platforms[5].
[1] https://www.reuters.com/business/technology/meta-nears-deal-to-inject-10b-20b-into-ai-startup-scale-ai-sources-2023-05-15/[2] https://www.wsj.com/articles/meta-scale-ai-investment-tech-deal-11684174793[3] https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/15/meta-invests-in-scale-ai-valuing-startup-at-more-than-29-billion.html[4] https://techcrunch.com/2022/11/17/scale-ai-launches-new-generation-of-data-labeling-products-to-help-ai-models-scale-to-hundreds-of-billion-parameters/[5] https://www.fortune.com/2023/05/16/mark-zuckerberg-metaverse-earnings-call-earnings-ai-big-battles-vespa/
Meta's significant investment in Scale AI, estimated between $14.3 billion to $15 billion and valued beyond $29 billion, signifies a strategic alliance that bolsters both parties' artificial-intelligence capabilities. Scale AI's founder, Alexandr Wang, will be joining Meta to spearhead their ambitions in artificial-intelligence, specifically towards the achievement of "superintelligence."
