Meta approached AI startup Runway about a takeover bid before Scale deal
Meta spoke with artificial intelligence startup Runway about a potential takeover ahead of its multibillion-dollar investment in Scale AI, CNBC confirmed on Monday.
Runway is best known for its AI video generation tools and earned a spot on CNBC's Disruptor 50 list earlier this month.
The deal talks between Meta and Runway did not progress far and dissolved, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named due to the confidential nature of the discussions.
Bloomberg earlier reported the talks. Meta declined to comment.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been aggressively pushing to bolster his company's AI efforts in recent months. The social media giant invested $14.3 billion into Scale AI in June, and it has also approached the startups Safe Superintelligence and Perplexity AI about potential acquisitions this year.
Meta agreed to a 49% stake in Scale AI and hired away founder Alexandr Wang, along with a small number of other employees from the company.
And while Meta was unsuccessful in its efforts to buy Superintelligence outright, Daniel Gross, the company's CEO, and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman are joining Meta's AI efforts, where they will work on products under Wang.
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