Scale AI's Alexandr Wang describes ‘moral imperative' for his company to work on military solutions

The National

02-05-2025

Alexandr Wang, the founder of the increasingly powerful tech firm Scale AI, will not be apologising for his company's contracts with the US military. Mr Wang's start-up, which trains artificial intelligence applications, already boasts some of the world's biggest technology giants as its clients, including Meta, Microsoft and OpenAI. It also works with the US Air Force and US Army. Other tech firms have faced criticism for working with the military, but Mr Wang, who became the world's youngest self-made billionaire in 2022 at the age of 25, has no such concerns. 'We're at the brink of this incredibly powerful new technology, and the applications for national security are obvious," Mr Wang said during a discussion at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington. "It's going to be imperative for the US to stay ahead." Mr Wang grew up in Los Alamos, New Mexico, famed for housing Robert Oppenheimer's development of the atomic bomb through the Manhattan Project during the Second World War. It was this Los Alamos upbringing that led Mr Wang to believe it's a moral imperative for AI companies to work with the military, he said. A visit to China, where he saw AI companies working on facial recognition and surveillance, bolstered the entrepreneur's belief that Scale AI should work with US defence entities. 'At that moment it was clear for me that the US would need to have the highest quality human capital and the best companies focused on this problem,' he said, referring to national security. Mr Wang acknowledged there had been some fallout in the years since his decision. There was initial pushback from investors, and some employees resigned fearing the stigma that might come from working with the military. 'Knowing about the history of where I grew up, and the impact that Los Alamos and the Manhattan Project had on Pax Americana had on the global order, it felt so clear that great AI technology needs to be applied to national security problems," he added, also not shying away from his warnings about China's goals with AI. "The CCP has had an AI master plan," he said. "They've discussed the need to win on the sort of implementation and proliferation of this technology throughout their military." Scale AI's footprint continues to grow as buzz surrounding the self-described "data-centric end-to-end solution" AI infrastructure company shows no sign of slowing. Essentially, if a company needs reliable and well-organised data to help create a large language model for just about anything, Scale AI has become the go-to experts. Mr Wang founded Scale AI in 2016 shortly after dropping out of MIT when he saw AI developments creating the need for ways to label, curate and manage high quality training data for both technology companies and other large businesses. That proved to be a wise bet. As of 2025, it now has more than 900 employees and secured at least $1.3 billion in financing, resulting in a $13.8 billion valuation. Few companies in the world currently have the equivalent of Scale AI's defence and commercial portfolio. The rapid ascent of Scale AI has also put Mr Wang in the rarefied air of AI tech entrepreneurs and celebrities such as Nvidia's Jensen Huang and OpenAI's Sam Altman. He has graced the cover of magazines, testified before Congress and is increasingly sought after for interviews. His comments about 'agentic warfare' and 'lethality deterrence' at CSIS in Washington came in the context of a question from interviewer Gregory Allen, who previously worked at the Pentagon. Mr Allen asked about Google's decision in 2018 to pull out of a military initiative called Project Maven, which sought to use technology to enhance military and weapons systems. Some critiqued Google at the time for joining the project, accusing it of profiting from potential wars and conflicts. Yet Mr Wang decided to pivot his company to such research. 'One core belief I have is that over time, rationality prevails,' Mr Wang explained, adding that in his view the AI applications for national security were 'very obvious' and therefore necessary to assist with. Mr Wang's defence of Scale AI's military work comes as other companies like Microsoft have faced criticism for making similar moves. In April, Mustafa Suleyman, Microsoft's head of artificial intelligence, was interrupted by an employee who criticised the company for having contracts with the Israeli military. 'Stop using AI for genocide, Mustafa. Stop using AI for genocide in our region … 50,000 people have died. You have blood on your hands,' said the protester at an anniversary event on the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Washington state. The employee and several others were later fired, but consternations from some inside the company have remained. There's no sign that fears of demonstrations or similar backlash have impacted Mr Wang's business decisions. In January, he also surprised some by writing a congratulatory letter to recently elected US President Donald Trump, offering some thoughts about how the US should proceed with AI compared with other countries. 'China's government outspends our government by about 10 times on AI implementation and adoption,' he wrote, urging President Trump to increase American AI investment. He also suggested the US should prepare for the vast amounts of energy that AI infrastructure would require, and to not stifle AI innovation through regulations. 'Attracting the best technology companies to flourish in America relies on the right regulatory framework,' he said. During Thursday's CSIS event, Mr Wang also wasn't shy about critiquing export policies that limit US AI chip exports to various countries, while also acknowledging the complexity of the issue that some say is key to maintaining US technology leadership. He said AI developments from Chinese companies like DeepSeek and Huawei show chip export enforcement can only go so far.