Meta Eyes Massive $10 Bn Deal with Scale AI to Boost Its AI Ambitions

Meta Platforms is reportedly in advanced discussions to invest over $10 billion in Scale AI, a data‑labeling and model‑evaluation startup, marking a possible record-breaking external AI investment for the company, Bloomberg reported.

The deal, still under negotiation, signals a strategic pivot for Meta, which has largely preferred in-house AI development, like its LLaMA models, until now.

Founded in 2016 by Alexandr Wang, Scale AI achieved $870 million in revenue in 2024 and forecasts more than doubling to $2 billion in 2025.

Valued at $13.8 billion after its Series F round in May 2024, the startup could soar in valuation with an IPO or tender offer, according to sources.

The investment aligns with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s aggressive AI strategy, which includes a proposed $65 billion AI budget for 2025.

A partnership with Scale AI would strengthen Meta’s capabilities across defence, enterprise, and infrastructure sectors.

It could also deepen their collaboration on projects like Defense Llama and enhance access to specialized data pipelines—a crucial asset for training advanced AI systems.

Serving clients such as Microsoft, OpenAI, and Meta itself, Scale AI supports a worldwide community across 9,000+ cities and towns with data annotation and model evaluation services.

Under the Pentagon’s Thunderforge initiative, Scale AI is aiding U.S. military planning by delivering generative AI systems that assist commanders in asset movement and strategic decision-making.