Meta finalises investment in Scale AI, valuing startup at US$29bil
KUALA LUMPUR: Meta Platforms has finalised an investment in Scale AI that values the startup at over US$29 billion, Scale AI said on Thursday.
Two sources familiar with the matter said that Meta's investment in Scale AI amounts to US$14.3 billion.
The sources said that Scale CEO and co-founder Alexandr Wang will join a new "superintelligence" unit inside Meta to achieve artificial general intelligence (AGI), a term that refers to machines that can match or surpass human capabilities.
Scale's chief strategy officer, Jason Droege, will serve as its interim CEO, Scale AI added.
By poaching Wang, who does not have formal experience in frontier AI research, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is betting that Meta's AI efforts can be turned around by an adept business leader more in the mold of OpenAI's Sam Altman than the research scientists at the helm of most competing labs.
The deal ranks as Meta's second-largest ever after its US$19 billion buyout of WhatsApp.
Since many of those labs have contracted Scale for data services, Zuckerberg could also obtain an inside track into his rivals' priorities around data, one of the key ingredients for developing today's AI models.
Scale was valued at nearly US$14 billion in a May 2024 funding round where the company raised US$1 billion from backers including tech giants Nvidia, Amazon and Meta.
Founded in 2016, Scale AI provides vast amounts of accurately labeled data, which is pivotal for training sophisticated tools like OpenAI's ChatGPT.
To do so, Scale set up subsidiary platforms such as Remotasks and Outlier to recruit and manage gig-workers who manually label the data.
Wang, the 28-year-old co-founder, has steered the company to provide data labeling services across the buzzy tech sectors of the moment, from autonomous vehicles several years ago to generative AI today.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
China's top baijiu maker faces sobering reality as austerity trims profits
China's premier liquor distiller Kweichow Moutai – a brand that had, over decades, become synonymous with sumptuous feasts – is heeding a renewed mandate for austerity from Beijing, distancing its products from the extravagant hard-drinking lifestyle with which it had been linked in the public consciousness. Management at the company, valued at 1.86 trillion yuan (US$258.73 billion), has pledged to comply with strictures stressing thrift – guidelines that have helped to remove Moutai's expensive baijiu liquor from government banquets and narrowed the firm's profit margin further. Senior executives vowed to remain vigilant against the risks of corruption at a company meeting on Tuesday, where Moutai chairman Zhang Deqin invoked classic Chinese texts to argue the liquor must promote culture, health and harmony. 'With the baijiu , rites and traditions are upheld, the aged are nourished and joy is shared,' Zhang said, citing the Book of Rites and the Classic of Poetry, both of which date back centuries. Moutai's notoriously strong liquor – around 50 per cent alcohol by volume – has been the drink of choice for China's officials and executives since the early years of the Communist Party. After revolutionary leaders Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai developed a taste for the spirit during their time in the southwestern province of Guizhou, the distinct white bottles have been given as official gifts to visiting dignitaries and become a fixture at lavish dinners. Zhang's remarks followed a March revival of orders to curtail inordinate expenditures on dining, showy official junkets and other entertainment. Most notably, President Xi Jinping has reiterated an eight-point code of conduct - first released in 2012 - to ensure officials do not hold costly receptions at the public's expense. As an SOE it must toe the party line on austerity, even at the cost of its sales The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the party's top anti-corruption organ, has republished up to 80 detailed rules related to the topic, including a ban on party and government dinners and meetings held at popular visitor attractions. 'Working meals should serve ordinary dishes in a home-cooking style. High-end dishes should be avoided, along with cigarettes and high-end liquor,' reads one rule. Moutai's leaders are likely to feel more pressure than most to demonstrate their fealty to official directives. Within the last decade, company chairmen Yuan Renguo and Gao Weidong were given separate prison sentences for bribery; Yuan, placed under investigation in 2019, died of a cerebral haemorrhage in 2023. These developments may spell lean times for Moutai. One of China's largest listed companies by market capitalisation, the company has earned a sizeable profit from the rich and powerful - and the heavy drinking of political cadres. 'Moutai's expensive baijiu and its political duty as a state-owned enterprise (SOE) are seen as at odds,' said Tang Dajie, a senior researcher with the China Enterprise Institute think tank in Beijing. 'As a profit-making company it certainly hopes more customers, including officials, can drink its products,' he added. 'But as an SOE it must toe the party line on austerity, even at the cost of its sales.' When Moutai held an annual shareholder reception in May, tables no longer groaned under rows of heavy white bottles. Instead, orange juice and other non-alcoholic drinks were served. Explaining the change, Moutai's Zhang said at the Tuesday meeting that as an SOE, the company must implement Beijing's decisions to combat waste. He went so far as to support a de facto baijiu ban at official functions and dinners being enforced in many localities, as well as gatherings held by other SOEs. The company also conducted a management overhaul this week, promoting younger executives to reform the firm's sales and marketing strategies. But Tang, the researcher, pointed out that Moutai cannot control how its baijiu is consumed, and its high prices are largely determined by the market. 'It has better taste and quality, and many people stock up on Moutai baijiu as an investment,' he said. 'Though Beijing's austerity push is correct, the government should not intervene in market activities.' The push to trim spending has come at an inopportune moment for Moutai, as muted economic activity has further quelled consumers' thirst for liquor. A May report from Soochow Securities said the company's years-long streak of double-digit revenue and profit growth will end in 2025. Accordingly, prices have been dropping since 2024. As of Wednesday, on several liquor trading platforms, the price of a bottle of 25-year-old Moutai had fallen below 2,000 yuan (US$278), half what had been demanded in more prosperous times. - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Philippines buys 12 FA-50 light combat aircraft from S. Korea; purchase part of ambitious defence modernisation programme
MANILA (Xinhua): The Philippines' Department of National Defense (DND) Saturday confirmed the acquisition of 12 FA-50 Block 70 light combat aircraft from Korea Aerospace Industries, Ltd. (KAI) of South Korea as part of the modernization program of the country's Armed Forces. The contract, worth over US$700 million, was formalised earlier this month with the issuance of a notice to proceed. According to the DND, the acquisition includes mission equipment, integrated logistics support, and a training and logistics information system. The FA-50 Block 70 represents the latest evolution of the FA-50 platform, featuring advanced avionics, modern radar systems, and extended operational range. The DND said the delivery of the aircraft will be carried out in phases over the next five years, with full completion expected by 2030. - XInhua
BusinessToday
2 hours ago
- BusinessToday
Vietnam To Boost Processed Coffee Exports To US$6 Billion by 2030
Vietnam is ramping up efforts to climb the global coffee value chain, aiming to grow its exports of roasted and instant coffee to between US$5 billion and US$6 billion by 2030, according to the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association (VICOFA), Vietnam News Agency reported. The move is part of a broader strategy to shift from exporting raw coffee beans, primarily Robusta, toward higher-value processed products, with total coffee export earnings projected to hit US$8 billion to US$10 billion by 2025. Vietnam, already the world's top Robusta exporter, is experiencing a wave of investment in coffee processing infrastructure, driven by rising global coffee prices and increasing demand for premium products. In 2024, Vietnam's processed coffee exports reached US$1.18 billion, making it the country's second-largest coffee export category after Robusta beans, which generated US$4.18 billion. Related
