Meta Platforms has made its boldest AI move yet, finalizing a $14.8 billion investment in data-labeling firm Scale AI while simultaneously recruiting its 28-year-old CEO Alexandr Wang to lead Meta's newly formed 'Superintelligence' unit.
The June 13 deal, which values Scale AI at $29 billion, gives Meta a 49% non-voting stake in the company that has become a critical infrastructure provider in the AI ecosystem. Scale AI specializes in preparing and labeling training data for major AI developers including OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft – all Meta competitors.
Mark Zuckerberg's frustration with Meta's AI positioning appears to be driving this unprecedented investment. According to multiple sources familiar with the matter, Zuckerberg has grown increasingly agitated that rivals like OpenAI appear to be further ahead in both underlying AI models and consumer-facing applications. Meta's Llama 4 models released in April reportedly disappointed developers, with the promised larger 'Behemoth' model still unreleased due to concerns about its capabilities compared to competing offerings.
The investment comes amid Meta's broader AI infrastructure push, with the company planning to spend between $60-65 billion on AI infrastructure in 2025 alone – nearly double its 2024 expenditure. This includes constructing a massive 2-gigawatt data center and deploying over 1.3 million GPUs by year's end.
However, industry experts warn that such aggressive spending may reflect panic scaling rather than sustainable growth. With data quality cited as a primary concern by 85% of business leaders in recent surveys, and Forrester predicting that impatience with AI ROI could lead to premature investment cutbacks, Meta's massive bet raises questions about long-term returns. The deal's structure has also drawn attention from antitrust experts who suggest it represents a sophisticated attempt to acquire critical AI infrastructure while circumventing traditional merger oversight.
For Scale AI, the deal presents mixed prospects. While the investment dramatically increases its valuation, reports indicate that OpenAI and Google – two of Scale's major clients – have begun winding down their work with the company following the announcement, concerned about Meta potentially accessing their proprietary data and AI development strategies.