In a bold move that has sent ripples through the tech industry, Meta Platforms has finalized a $14.8 billion investment in Scale AI, valuing the data-labeling startup at approximately $29 billion.
The deal, announced on June 13, 2025, gives Meta a 49% stake in Scale AI and brings the company's 28-year-old co-founder and CEO Alexandr Wang into Meta's fold to lead a newly created 'Superintelligence' unit. This represents Meta's largest-ever external AI investment and signals Zuckerberg's determination to close the gap with industry leaders.
"Zuckerberg has grown frustrated that rivals like OpenAI appear to be further ahead than Meta in underlying AI models and consumer-facing apps," according to current and former Meta employees. The company's Llama 4 AI models released in April reportedly received a lukewarm reception from developers, with a promised larger "Behemoth" model still unreleased due to concerns about its capabilities compared to competing offerings.
Scale AI has been a crucial player in the generative AI boom, providing essential data-labeling services to train machine learning models for tech giants including OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft. Meta was already among Scale AI's biggest customers and had previously invested in the company's $1 billion Series F round in 2024.
However, the deal has already disrupted the AI ecosystem, with reports that OpenAI and Google have begun winding down their work with Scale following the announcement. This highlights the competitive tensions in the AI space as major tech companies vie for advantage in what some analysts see as an increasingly saturated market.
Some industry observers view Meta's massive investment as a potential warning sign. According to tech publication Futurism, such large, structurally complex acquisitions typically indicate fundamental problems with core strategies and may signal that "the AI industry is cooked." The publication draws parallels to previous tech bubble collapses, suggesting the rapid valuation inflation from $13.8 billion to $29 billion reflects bubble dynamics rather than genuine value creation.
Whether Meta's investment represents a strategic masterstroke or a desperate attempt to catch up in the AI race remains to be seen. What's clear is that the stakes in AI development continue to rise, with tech giants collectively planning to spend over $250 billion on AI-related capital expenditures in 2025 alone.