Meta Platforms is negotiating what could become one of the largest private sector investments in AI history, with plans to inject over $10 billion into data labeling startup Scale AI.
The potential investment, first reported by Bloomberg, would represent Meta's most substantial external AI expenditure to date. Meta was previously among investors in Scale AI's $1 billion Series F funding round in 2024, which valued the company at approximately $13.8 billion.
Founded in 2016 by CEO Alexandr Wang, Scale AI specializes in providing labeled data essential for training machine learning models. The company has become a critical infrastructure provider in the AI ecosystem, serving major tech clients including Microsoft and OpenAI. Scale AI's growth trajectory has been remarkable, with revenue expected to more than double from $870 million in 2024 to $2 billion in 2025.
This investment aligns with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's aggressive AI strategy. Zuckerberg has made artificial intelligence a top priority, announcing plans to spend between $60-65 billion on AI infrastructure in 2025 alone. Meta aims to make its open-source Llama model the global standard for AI, competing directly with other tech giants like Microsoft and Google, who have made significant investments in OpenAI and Anthropic respectively.
Scale AI has expanded beyond its initial focus on labeling data for self-driving vehicles to become a key player in the generative AI boom. The company now provides data annotation services for large language models and has developed partnerships with government agencies, including defense contracts with the U.S. military. Scale AI and Meta have previously collaborated on Defense Llama, a large language model designed for military applications.
The deal, which has not yet been finalized, comes as competition intensifies among tech giants to secure advantages in the rapidly evolving AI landscape. For Meta, which has primarily focused on in-house AI development, this external investment signals a strategic shift as Zuckerberg positions the company to compete aggressively in what he has called "a defining year for AI."