On June 21, 2025, Meta — the company behind Facebook and Instagram spent around $14 billion to buy almost half of Scale AI which is a company that helps prepare data for artificial intelligence.
This deal is seen as Meta's way of making sure it gets the high-quality data needed to train its AI tools. AI systems need huge amounts of organized information — like photos, videos, and text to learn and get smarter. Scale AI's job is to make this kind of data clear and easy for computers to understand. By investing heavily, Meta is locking in a steady source of this valuable "AI fuel" as it ramps up its AI work in 2025.
But that's not all. The deal also brings in new leadership. Alexandr Wang, the CEO and co-founder of Scale AI, will take on a key role in a new advanced AI team at Meta, while still helping guide Scale AI. Meanwhile, Jason Droege, Scale AI's Chief Strategy Officer, will temporarily lead Scale.
Scale AI has quietly been a major behind-the-scenes player, helping many tech companies including some U.S. government agencies by preparing their data for AI training. One of its biggest clients was Google.
However, Meta's big investment has caused some tension. Since Meta now owns a big part of Scale AI, Google has decided to stop working with the company, worried that Meta could learn too much about its AI plans. Other big names like Microsoft and Elon Musk's xAI are also reportedly rethinking their partnerships.
On the other hand, OpenAI says it will still work with Scale AI but has already started using other data providers too — just to be safe.
Meta didn't buy the entire company, possibly to avoid legal issues. Huge business deals like this often attract attention from regulators who want to make sure companies aren't hurting fair competition.
