Grace Ashiru
Meta Platforms Inc. is said to be nearing a deal to invest over $10 billion in Scale AI, a rapidly expanding artificial intelligence startup. If completed, it would mark one of the biggest private funding rounds on record and Meta’s largest external AI investment so far signaling a strategic departure from its usual focus on in-house AI development, according to Bloomberg.
Scale AI, founded in 2016 by Alexandr Wang, specializes in data labeling services essential for training machine learning models. Its tools organize, tag, and refine data to enhance model learning, positioning the company as a key player behind the scenes of the generative AI surge.
With clients such as Microsoft and OpenAI, Scale AI has firmly established its position as a major force in the AI industry.
The startup was last valued at $14 billion during a 2024 funding round backed by Meta and Microsoft. Bloomberg later reported that Scale was exploring a tender offer that could push its valuation to $25 billion, driven by its rapid revenue jump from $870 million in 2024 to an expected $2 billion in 2025.
Though Meta and Scale have yet to publicly confirm the talks, reports indicate the terms are still under negotiation and could shift. Still, the potential deal marks a significant departure from Meta’s usual AI approach, signaling a growing openness to external partnerships.
Key context
Up to this point, Meta has focused mainly on internal research and open-source projects such as its Llama large language model (LLM). In contrast to competitors like Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet all of which have invested heavily in external AI startups like OpenAI and Anthropic. Meta has largely taken a go-it-alone approach.
That position now seems to be shifting. In January, CEO Mark Zuckerberg named AI as Meta’s foremost priority, revealing intentions to allocate as much as $65 billion to AI efforts in 2025. At the heart of this initiative is Llama the engine behind Meta’s AI assistant embedded across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp — which currently serves over a billion users each month.
Scale AI’s expanding footprint in defense tech could also be influencing Meta’s interest. The two firms are already partnering on Defense Llama, a customized version of Meta’s language model tailored for military applications.
Last week, Meta teamed up with defense firm Anduril Industries to jointly develop AI-enabled helmets featuring augmented and virtual reality for the U.S. military. In a rare step for a major tech company, Meta has also authorized the use of its AI models by U.S. government agencies and contractors.
Meanwhile, Scale has expanded its presence in the federal space. Earlier this year, it landed a U.S. Department of Defense contract for AI agent technology, which the company described as a “significant milestone in military advancement.”
As the AI race accelerates, Meta’s potential multibillion-dollar investment in Scale could mark a bold move to stay competitive and reshape its role as a leader in both commercial and defense-focused AI solutions.
