Meta is preparing to invest nearly $15 billion into Scale AI, a data infrastructure company that helps train AI models. This deal is not just about money, it’s about leadership, vision, and the future of artificial intelligence.
Meta is bringing in Alexandr Wang, the 28-year-old CEO and co-founder of Scale AI, to lead its new Superintelligence Lab. This lab will focus on creating powerful AI systems that could one day think and reason better than humans. The decision shows how serious Meta is about catching up with others like OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft.
Wang, who founded Scale AI in 2016 after dropping out of MIT, has built one of the most important companies in the AI world. His company helps label and organize data—something that is essential for training large language models and other advanced AI systems.
These models are the brains behind tools like ChatGPT and AI chatbots. Under Wang’s leadership, Scale AI became a partner of companies like OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google’s self-driving project, Waymo.
“At 24, he became the world’s youngest self-made billionaire,” said a Meta executive. “And now, at 28, he’s leading the next big chapter of AI at Meta.”
According to The Verge, Meta’s investment gives it a 49% stake in Scale AI, valuing the company at $29 billion. This is Meta’s largest external investment ever. Most of this money will go into building new AI systems that focus on autonomy, decision-making, and reasoning, the main areas that are necessary to reach Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), a form of AI that can match or even beat human thinking.
“This is not just a financial move,” said Meta spokesperson. “It’s a complete reset of our AI strategy. We are betting on Alexandr Wang to help us reach superintelligence.”
Wang will lead the new superintelligence lab and will report directly to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The team will include around 50 top researchers who are expected to receive some of the highest salaries in the industry. Zuckerberg is personally overseeing the hiring and direction of this lab, showing how important it is to Meta’s future.
While Meta has made progress with AI in areas like Instagram filters, WhatsApp chatbots, and even AI for smart glasses, this new lab is aimed at something much bigger. Meta wants to build AI that can reason, solve problems, and even make decisions in real-time. That’s the goal of superintelligence.
Wang has always believed that better AI is not just smarter algorithms, but better data. Clean, well-organized data helps AI systems learn faster and perform better. The company recently delayed the release of its newest AI model, known internally as “Behemoth,” because it wasn’t performing as well as models from OpenAI and Anthropic.
“AI is not just about the smartest code. It’s about the smartest training,” Wang once said in an interview. “Without the right data, even the best algorithms fail.”
Meta has been watching its competitors closely. Microsoft has invested more than $13 billion into OpenAI. Amazon has put $8 billion into Anthropic, and Google has spent at least $3 billion backing the same company. These investments are helping those companies get ahead in the AI race.
“With this deal, we’re not just catching up,” a Meta insider said. “We’re going to leap forward.”
Scale AI is also growing rapidly outside of Silicon Valley. In recent months, the company signed a five-year deal with Qatar to provide AI tools for the country’s civil service and healthcare systems.
It has also made deals with other countries in Europe and Asia. In March, it signed a multimillion-dollar agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense to build AI agents for military use.
According to internal reports, Scale expects to make around $2 billion in revenue in 2025. The company is also planning a buyout offer for early employees and investors at a $25 billion valuation.
Meta’s new focus on superintelligence is also bringing changes within its leadership. Yann LeCun, Meta’s longtime chief AI scientist, remains at the company but is no longer leading its main AI direction. Sources say LeCun’s views on AI are very different from those of Wang and Zuckerberg, and the company is now moving in a new direction.
“Meta’s mission is to build AI that helps people connect, learn, and grow,” said Zuckerberg in a statement. “With Alexandr and the Scale team, we are building the future—together.”
