Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is investing a “significant” amount in Scale AI and hiring the artificial intelligence (AI) company’s young CEO Alexandr Wang.
The investment, reportedly worth about $14 billion, will bring the 28-year-old tech founder on board to help with Meta’s “superintelligence efforts.”
“Meta has finalized our strategic partnership and investment in Scale AI,” Meta said in a statement. “As part of this, we will deepen the work we do together producing data for AI models and Alexandr Wang will join Meta to work on our superintelligence efforts.”
Scale AI, founded by Wang in 2016, provides data services for AI companies. Meta’s massive investment values the firm at more than $29 billion.
Wang noted in a message to staff that he would “never leave Scale behind” and will remain a member of the board of directors, “continuing to support Scale’s mission and long-term vision.”
Jason Droege, Scale AI’s chief strategy officer, will take over as interim CEO, according to a company press release.
“When this opportunity first presented itself, my immediate reaction was uncertainty,”
Wang said in the message posted to Instagram on Thursday. “The idea of not being a Scalien was, frankly, unimaginable. But as I spent time truly considering it, I realized this was a deeply unique moment, not just for me, but for Scale as well.”
“As you’ve probably gathered from recent news, opportunities of this magnitude often come at a cost,” Wang added. “In this instance, that cost is my departure.”
The new partnership comes as Meta seeks to build out a superintelligence lab, focused on creating AI that is smarter than humans — a step further than the artificial general intelligence sought by many tech and AI companies, according to The New York Times.
