Latest news with #JasonDroege
TechCrunch
a day ago
- Business
- TechCrunch
Scale AI confirms ‘significant' investment from Meta, says CEO Alexandr Wang is leaving
Data-labeling company Scale AI confirmed on Friday that it has received a 'significant' investment from Meta that values the startup at $29 billion. The startup also said its co-founder and CEO Alexandr Wang is stepping down from his role to join Meta and help the bigger company with its AI work. Reports indicate that Meta invested about $14.3 billion for a 49% stake in the startup, which produces and labels data that's used to train the large language models that underpin a significant portion of generative AI development. Meta confirmed the investment. 'Meta has finalized our strategic partnership and investment in Scale AI. 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. We will share more about this effort and the great people joining this team in the coming weeks,' a spokesperson for Meta told TechCrunch. Jason Droege, Scale's current chief strategy officer, will hop in as interim CEO. Scale AI noted that Meta's investment will be used to pay investors and shareholders, as well as to fuel growth. The company emphasized that it remains an independent entity. Wang will continue at the data-labeling firm as a director on its board. As my colleague Max Zeff wrote on Wednesday, this investment is a way for Meta to improve its AI efforts as its rivals Google, OpenAI and Anthropic rush ahead, and the social media company's own AI model releases trail the competition. Plus, according to data by SingalFire, the company lost 4.3% of its top talent to other AI labs last year. For the last several years, leading AI labs such as OpenAI have relied on Scale AI to produce and label data that's used to train models. In recent months, Scale AI and its data annotation competitors have started hiring highly skilled people, such as PhD scientists and senior software engineers, to generate high-quality data for frontier AI labs. Just last year, Scale AI raised $1 billion last year from investors including Amazon and Meta at a valuation of $13.8 billion.
Int'l Business Times
a day ago
- Business
- Int'l Business Times
Meta Invests $14.3B For 49% Stake In Scale AI To Boost AI Capabilities
Meta has completed a $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI, acquiring a 49% stake in the startup and valuing it at over $29 billion. This deal marks Meta's second-largest investment to date, following its $19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp in 2014, and deepens the strategic partnership between the two companies, according to Reuters. Following the investment, Scale AI appointed Jason Droege as interim CEO, succeeding co-founder Alexandr Wang. Wang has joined Meta to lead a new team focused on artificial general intelligence (AGI) and support Meta's broader AI initiatives, while maintaining a seat on Scale AI's board. Mark Zuckerberg personally facilitated Wang's move, underscoring Meta's determination to regain ground in the competitive AI landscape. "Meta's investment acknowledges Scale's achievements and reinforces our shared belief that the future of AI is limitless," said Wang, as reported by the Financial Times. The partnership will leverage Scale AI's expertise in data labeling—a crucial process that categorizes images and text for training AI models—to accelerate the development of large language models. Scale AI currently provides labeled training data to major clients like Microsoft, OpenAI, General Motors, and Toyota through platforms such as Remotasks and Outlier. The investment arrives as Meta faces mounting pressure to advance its AI capabilities amid stiff competition from Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic. Meta has announced that it will reveal more details about the new AI team and upcoming projects in the coming weeks.
TechCrunch
a day ago
- Business
- TechCrunch
Scale AI confirms ‘significant' investment from Meta, says CEO Alexanr Wang is leaving
Data-labeling company Scale AI confirmed on Friday that it has received a 'significant' investment from Meta that values the startup at $29 billion. The startup also said its co-founder and CEO Alexandr Wang is stepping down from his role to join Meta and help the bigger company with its AI work. Reports indicate that Meta invested about $14.3 billion for a 49% stake in the startup, which produces and labels the data that's used to train the large language models that underpin a significant portion of generative AI development. Meta confirmed the investment. 'Meta has finalized our strategic partnership and investment in Scale AI. 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. We will share more about this effort and the great people joining this team in the coming weeks,' a spokesperson for Meta told TechCrunch. Jason Droege, Scale's current chief strategy officer, will hop in as interim CEO. Scale AI noted that Meta's investment will be used to pay investors and shareholders, as well as to fuel growth. The company emphasized that it remains an independent entity. Wang will continue at the data-labeling firm as a director on its board. As my colleague Max Zeff wrote on Wednesday, this investment is a way for Meta to improve its AI efforts as its rivals Google, OpenAI and Anthropic rush ahead, and the social media company's own AI model releases trail the competition. Plus, according to data by SingalFire, the company lost 4.3% of its top talent to other AI labs last year. For the last several years, leading AI labs such as OpenAI have relied on Scale AI to produce and label data that's used to train models. In recent months, Scale AI and its data annotation competitors have started hiring highly skilled people, such as PhD scientists and senior software engineers, to generate high-quality data for frontier AI labs. Just last year, Scale AI raised $1 billion last year from investors including Amazon and Meta at a valuation of $13.8 billion.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Scale AI Announces Next Phase of Company's Evolution
Significant Investment and Expanded Commercial Relationship with Meta will Fuel Long-Term Growth Founder and CEO, Alexandr Wang, Joins Meta to Work on Meta's AI Efforts Jason Droege, Tech Industry Veteran and Scale Chief Strategy Officer, Named Interim CEO SAN FRANCISCO, June 13, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Scale AI, Inc. ("Scale" or the "Company"), the humanity-first AI company, today announced a significant new investment from Meta Platforms, Inc. (Nasdaq: META) that values Scale at over $29 billion. The agreement will also substantially expand Scale and Meta's commercial relationship to accelerate deployment of Scale's data solutions. In addition, Scale's founder, Alexandr Wang, is joining Meta to work on Meta's AI efforts. Wang will continue to serve as a director on the Scale Board of Directors and support Scale's ongoing work to unlock the power of AI and keep human values at the forefront. Scale's Board of Directors has appointed Chief Strategy Officer, Jason Droege, to serve as the Company's Interim Chief Executive Officer. Droege joined Scale in September 2024 with more than 20 years of experience building and leading iconic technology companies that improve everyday life, including Uber Eats and Axon. At Scale, Droege's leadership has been instrumental to the growth and achievements of AI labs and work with enterprise customers. Scale will utilize the proceeds of the deal to accelerate innovation and strengthen strategic partnerships with customers. In addition, Scale will distribute proceeds from Meta's investment to Scale shareholders and vested equity holders, providing them with substantial liquidity as well as the opportunity to continue participating in Scale's success as ongoing equity holders of the Company. Following its investment, Meta will hold a minority of Scale's outstanding equity. Scale remains an independent leader in AI, committed to providing industry-leading AI solutions and safeguarding customer data. Having played a pivotal role in accelerating AI development from its inception, Scale will continue to partner with leading AI labs, multinational enterprises, and governments to deliver expert data and technology solutions through every phase of AI's evolution. Alexandr Wang, Founder of Scale: "AI is one of the most revolutionary technologies of our time, with unlimited possibility and far-reaching influence on how people, businesses and governments succeed. Scale bridges the gap between human values and technology to help our customers realize AI's full potential. Meta's investment recognizes Scale's accomplishments to date and reaffirms that our path forward – like that of AI – is limitless. "I'm delighted that Jason will lead the next steps in Scale's journey and bring his experience and skill to continue its success. Our bench is deep and I'm confident that we'll continue best serving our valued customers, providing the highest quality data, and building customized AI applications that transform businesses and governments." Jason Droege, Interim Chief Executive Officer of Scale: "Meta's new investment and our broadened commercial agreement is a testament to the incredible work and dedication of the entire Scale team, and the tremendous upside that lies ahead for Scale. Scale has led the charge in accelerating AI development because we don't just adapt to change, we drive it. We have built the strongest foundation to tackle AI's data challenges and push the boundaries of what's possible. I'm dedicated to working with our talented team to continue realizing Alex's vision of bringing the benefits of AI to everyone. To our valued customers, we remain committed to partnering with you to build customized AI solutions that transform your organizations." About Jason Droege Jason Droege is a seasoned technology executive and entrepreneur. Before joining Scale, he was a Venture Partner at Benchmark, an investment firm focused on early-stage venture investing in consumer, marketplaces, open-source, AI, infrastructure, and enterprise software. He joined Benchmark in 2021 to collaborate closely with portfolio founders, leveraging his extensive experience in building consumer businesses. Prior to his role at Benchmark, Droege was a founder of Uber Eats, Uber's food delivery platform. Under his leadership as Vice President, Uber Eats grew from its first order in Toronto in December 2015 into one of the world's largest marketplaces with a $19 billion gross merchandise volume run rate globally at the time of his departure in 2020. Before his tenure at Uber, Droege played a pivotal role at Taser (now Axon Enterprise, Inc.), where he developed the Company's cloud strategy, transforming it from a hardware-focused business into a hybrid hardware and software company. He attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Advisors Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati served as legal advisor to Scale and Centerview Partners LLC served as financial advisor. Joele Frank served as Scale's strategic communications advisor. About Scale AI Scale delivers high-quality data for AI development through our Data Foundry, and we provide technology solutions that enable our enterprise and public-sector customers to build, deploy, and oversee AI applications. By aligning AI with human values, we are accelerating progress while providing the necessary oversight to strengthen human sovereignty. Scale was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in San Francisco. View source version on Contacts Tom ChannickVP of Communicationspress@
Time of India
a day ago
- Business
- Time of India
Meta finalises investment in Scale AI, valuing startup at $29 billion
Synopsis Meta has finalised an investment of $14.3 billion in Scale AI, valuing the startup at over $29 billion. Scale CEO Alexandr Wang will join Meta's new AGI-focused unit, with Jason Droege as interim CEO. The deal, Meta's second-largest ever, strengthens its AI ambitions and offers insights into rival labs' data strategies.
