Here’s what Scale AI co-founder Alexandr Wang knows that Meta doesn’t.

Meta invests $14.3B in Scale AI to fuel a new superintelligence lab—gaining infrastructure and leadership, but raising doubts about Scale’s future.

The negotiations started as just one billionaire tech founder talking to another. Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg approached Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang in mid-April about a potentially industry-shaking deal.

Meta is making a $14.3 billion investment in artificial intelligence company Scale and recruiting its CEO Alexandr Wang to join a team developing “superintelligence” at the tech giant.

Meta Platform Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg’s efforts to shape up the company’s artificial-intelligence ambitions took a step forward with an investment in ScaleAI and the poaching of its founder. Meta’s investment values the data-labeling AI startup at over $29 billion,

At Cannes Lions 2025, Meta unveiled 11 new AI features and confirmed a $14bn investment for a 49% stake in Scale AI, appointing CEO Alexandr Wang to lead its new “superintelligence” unit.

Alexandr Wang dropped out of MIT to co-found Scale and was quickly lauded as one of Silicon Valley's most promising entrepreneurs, raising funding from blue-chip venture capital firms and achieving billionaire status in his 20s.

Scale said late on Thursday that the deal values it at $29 billion and its CEO Alexandr Wang will join Meta to play a prominent role in the Facebook owner's AI strategy.

Meta is investing $15 billion into Scale, and will hire its CEO Alexandr Wang and key staff for a new 'superintelligence' AI division in Meta. Wang will remain on Scale AI's board, with the company set to “substantially expand” its commercial relationship with Meta “to accelerate deployment of Scale’s data solutions.”

Meta Platforms Inc. keeps writing bigger checks in pursuit of its artificial intelligence strategy, and traders keep cheering it on, encouraged that the expensive bets will keep paying off.