Meta to invest $14.3 billion in Scale AI and hire CEO Alexandr Wang to lead new lab

Meta is finalizing a roughly $14.3 billion investment to acquire a 49% non-voting stake in Scale AI, a leading data-labeling startup that will value the company at over $29 billion, marking the tech giant's second-largest investment ever following its WhatsApp purchase. This strategic move aims to strengthen Meta's underperforming artificial intelligence sector by securing critical data resources for training large language models, while simultaneously prompting the company to cut staff to fund its massive AI spending ambitions. A key element of the deal involves Scale AI's 28-year-old CEO, Alexandr Wang, stepping down to join Meta as a top executive heading a new Superintelligence lab, raising regulatory questions about "acquihire" transactions that bypass traditional antitrust reviews. The investment is expected to provide Scale AI with capital to pay shareholders and fuel growth, while allowing the startup to remain independent without integrating its business operations with Meta.