Meta Platforms invests billions in Scale AI – Ambitions in the field of artificial superintelligence

The technology giant Meta Platforms has successfully completed its investment in the emerging company Scale AI, which is now valued at over 29 billion dollars. According to insiders, Meta's commitment amounts to a substantial 14.3 billion dollars. Additionally, it is revealed that Scale AI CEO and co-founder Alexandr Wang will join a new unit within Meta aiming to achieve the ambitious goal of realizing artificial general intelligence (AGI) – a stage where machines not only reach but also surpass human capabilities. Meanwhile, the current Chief Strategy Officer of Scale, Jason Droege, will temporarily take on the role of CEO. By engaging Wang, who lacks formal prior experience in groundbreaking AI research development, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is betting on steering the company towards success with the help of a capable executive. Zuckerberg appears to be pursuing an approach reminiscent of OpenAI's Sam Altman, rather than the typical research-oriented scientists in competing labs. This agreement is Meta's second-largest deal following the spectacular purchase of WhatsApp for 19 billion dollars. As Scale AI has already provided data services to numerous labs, Zuckerberg might also gain valuable insights into the priorities of his competitors in data development, which are essential for modern AI models. As early as May 2024, Scale AI, which has been specializing in precise data preparation since its inception in 2016, was valued at nearly 14 billion dollars. This valuation was based on a funding round in which Scale raised 1 billion dollars from backers such as Nvidia, Amazon, and Meta itself. Seamlessly, Wang, just 28 years old, has led the company into various booming technology areas, from autonomous vehicles to generative AI, while establishing a network of gig-worker platforms for data annotation.