Latest news with #Scale
Time of India
2 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
Meta in talks for Scale AI investment that could top $10 billion
Meta Platforms Inc . is in talks to make a multibillion-dollar investment into artificial intelligence startup Scale AI , according to people familiar with the matter. The financing could exceed $10 billion in value, some of the people said, making it one of the largest private company funding events of all time. The terms of the deal are not finalised and could still change, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. A representative for Scale did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Meta declined to comment. Scale AI, whose customers include Microsoft Corp. and OpenAI, provides data labeling services to help companies train machine-learning models and has become a key beneficiary of the generative AI boom. The startup was last valued at about $14 billion in 2024, in a funding round that included backing from Meta and Microsoft. Earlier this year, Bloomberg reported that Scale was in talks for a tender offer that would value it at $25 billion. This would be Meta's biggest ever external AI investment, and a rare move for the company. The social media giant has before now mostly depended on its in-house research, plus a more open development strategy, to make improvements in its AI technology. Meanwhile, Big Tech peers have invested heavily: Microsoft has put more than $13 billion into OpenAI while both Inc. and Alphabet Inc. have put billions into rival Anthropic. Part of those companies' investments have been through credits to use their computing power. Meta doesn't have a cloud business, and it's unclear what format Meta's investment will take. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg has made AI Meta's top priority, and said in January that the company would spend as much as $65 billion on related projects this year. The company's push includes an effort to make Llama the industry standard worldwide. Meta's AI chatbot — already available on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp — is used by 1 billion people per month. Scale, co-founded in 2016 by CEO Alexandr Wang, has been growing quickly: The startup generated revenue of $870 million last year and expects sales to more than double to $2 billion in 2025, Bloomberg previously reported. Scale plays a key role in making AI data available for companies. Because AI is only as good as the data that goes into it, Scale uses scads of contract workers to tidy up and tag images, text and other data that can then be used for AI training. Scale and Meta share an interest in defense tech. Last week, Meta announced a new partnership with defense contractor Anduril Industries Inc. to develop products for the US military, including an AI-powered helmet with virtual and augmented reality features. Meta has also granted approval for US government agencies and defense contractors to use its AI models. The company is already partnering with Scale on a program called Defense Llama — a version of Meta's Llama large language model intended for military use. Scale has increasingly been working with the US government to develop AI for defense purposes. Earlier this year the startup said it won a contract with the Defense Department to work on AI agent technology. The company called the contract 'a significant milestone in military advancement.'
Mint
5 hours ago
- Business
- Mint
Meta in talks to invest nearly $10 billion in artificial intelligence startup Scale AI
(Bloomberg) -- Meta Platforms Inc. is in talks to make a multibillion-dollar investment into artificial intelligence startup Scale AI, according to people familiar with the matter. The financing could exceed $10 billion in value, some of the people said, making it one of the largest private company funding events of all time. The terms of the deal are not finalized and could still change, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. A representative for Scale did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Meta declined to comment. Scale AI, whose customers include Microsoft Corp. and OpenAI, provides data labeling services to help companies train machine-learning models and has become a key beneficiary of the generative AI boom. The startup was last valued at about $14 billion in 2024, in a funding round that included backing from Meta and Microsoft. Earlier this year, Bloomberg reported that Scale was in talks for a tender offer that would value it at $25 billion. This would be Meta's biggest ever external AI investment, and a rare move for the company. The social media giant has before now mostly depended on its in-house research, plus a more open development strategy, to make improvements in its AI technology. Meanwhile, Big Tech peers have invested heavily: Microsoft has put more than $13 billion into OpenAI while both Inc. and Alphabet Inc. have put billions into rival Anthropic. Part of those companies' investments have been through credits to use their computing power. Meta doesn't have a cloud business, and it's unclear what format Meta's investment will take. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg has made AI Meta's top priority, and said in January that the company would spend as much as $65 billion on related projects this year. The company's push includes an effort to make Llama the industry standard worldwide. Meta's AI chatbot — already available on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp — is used by 1 billion people per month. Scale, co-founded in 2016 by CEO Alexandr Wang, has been growing quickly: The startup generated revenue of $870 million last year and expects sales to more than double to $2 billion in 2025, Bloomberg previously reported. Scale plays a key role in making AI data available for companies. Because AI is only as good as the data that goes into it, Scale uses scads of contract workers to tidy up and tag images, text and other data that can then be used for AI training. Scale and Meta share an interest in defense tech. Last week, Meta announced a new partnership with defense contractor Anduril Industries Inc. to develop products for the US military, including an AI-powered helmet with virtual and augmented reality features. Meta has also granted approval for US government agencies and defense contractors to use its AI models. The company is already partnering with Scale on a program called Defense Llama — a version of Meta's Llama large language model intended for military use. Scale has increasingly been working with the US government to develop AI for defense purposes. Earlier this year the startup said it won a contract with the Defense Department to work on AI agent technology. The company called the contract 'a significant milestone in military advancement.' More stories like this are available on
Business Times
5 hours ago
- Business
- Business Times
Meta in talks for scale AI investment that could top US$10 billion
[NEW YORK] Meta Platforms is in talks to make a multibillion-dollar investment into artificial intelligence startup Scale AI, according to people familiar with the matter. The financing could exceed US$10 billion in value, some of the people said, making it one of the largest private company funding events of all time. The terms of the deal are not finalised and could still change, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. A representative for Scale did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Meta declined to comment. Scale AI, whose customers include Microsoft and OpenAI, provides data labelling services to help companies train machine-learning models and has become a key beneficiary of the generative AI boom. The startup was last valued at about US$14 billion in 2024, in a funding round that included backing from Meta and Microsoft. Earlier this year, Bloomberg reported that Scale was in talks for a tender offer that would value it at US$25 billion. This would be Meta's biggest ever external AI investment, and a rare move for the company. The social media giant has before now mostly depended on its in-house research, plus a more open development strategy, to make improvements in its AI technology. Meanwhile, Big Tech peers have invested heavily: Microsoft has put more than US$13 billion into OpenAI while both and Alphabet have put billions into rival Anthropic. BT in your inbox Start and end each day with the latest news stories and analyses delivered straight to your inbox. Sign Up Sign Up Part of those companies' investments have been through credits to use their computing power. Meta does not have a cloud business, and it is unclear what format Meta's investment will take. Chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg has made AI Meta's top priority, and said in January that the company would spend as much as US$65 billion on related projects this year. The company's push includes an effort to make Llama the industry standard worldwide. Meta's AI chatbot – already available on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp – is used by one billion people per month. Scale, co-founded in 2016 by CEO Alexandr Wang, has been growing quickly: The startup generated revenue of US$870 million last year and expects sales to more than double to US$2 billion in 2025, Bloomberg previously reported. Scale plays a key role in making AI data available for companies. Because AI is only as good as the data that goes into it, Scale uses scads of contract workers to tidy up and tag images, text and other data that can then be used for AI training. Scale and Meta share an interest in defence tech. Last week, Meta announced a new partnership with defence contractor Anduril Industries to develop products for the US military, including an AI-powered helmet with virtual and augmented reality features. Meta has also granted approval for US government agencies and defence contractors to use its AI models. The company is already partnering with Scale on a programme called Defense Llama – a version of Meta's Llama large language model intended for military use. Scale has increasingly been working with the US government to develop AI for defence purposes. Earlier this year the startup said it won a contract with the Defense Department to work on AI agent technology. The company called the contract 'a significant milestone in military advancement.' BLOOMBERG
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First Post
7 hours ago
- Business
- First Post
Meta talking to Scale AI for $10bn investment: Is AI's largest private funding deal coming soon?
Meta's potential investment would be its largest external AI outlay so far. Unlike its peers, the tech giant has largely relied on internal research and open-source AI development read more Meta is looking to move ad content creation to fully be outsourced to AI. Image Credit: Reuters Meta Platforms Inc. is in discussions to invest more than $10 billion in artificial intelligence startup Scale AI, in what could become one of the largest private funding deals to date. The terms of the agreement are not finalised and could still change, Bloomberg cited people aware of the development as saying. Scale AI valued at $25bn in tender talks Founded in 2016 by CEO Alexandr Wang, Scale AI provides data-labelling services critical to training machine-learning models. The company, which counts Microsoft and OpenAI among its clients, was last valued at about $14 billion in 2024. Bloomberg previously reported Scale was in discussions for a tender offer that could raise its valuation to $25 billion. Scale reported $870 million in revenue last year and is projecting $2 billion in sales for 2025, according to Bloomberg. The startup plays a central role in the generative AI boom, employing large numbers of contract workers to tag and clean up images, text, and other data used in model training. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Meta switches up strategy Meta's potential investment would be its largest external AI outlay so far. Unlike its peers– Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet– which have spent billions on AI firms like OpenAI and Anthropic, Meta has largely relied on internal research and open-source AI development. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in January the company would spend up to $65 billion this year on AI-related projects. Its strategy includes advancing its Llama language model and expanding its AI assistant, which is now embedded in Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp and used by roughly 1 billion people monthly. Though the structure of the investment remains unclear, it could mark a departure from the industry norm of cloud-compute credits, as Meta does not operate a cloud platform. AI for defence: A growing shared interest Both Meta and Scale AI have deepening ties to the US defense sector. Meta recently partnered with Anduril Industries to develop AI-powered military products, including an augmented reality helmet. It has also authorised the use of its AI models by government agencies and defense contractors. Meta and Scale are collaborating on Defense Llama, a version of Meta's language model tailored for military use. Earlier this year, Scale won a Department of Defense contract to work on AI agent technology, which the company called a major step forward in defense innovation.
Economic Times
10 hours ago
- Business
- Economic Times
Meta in talks for Scale AI investment that could top $10 billion
Meta Platforms Inc. is in talks to make a multibillion-dollar investment into artificial intelligence startup Scale AI, according to people familiar with the matter. The financing could exceed $10 billion in value, some of the people said, making it one of the largest private company funding events of all time. The terms of the deal are not finalized and could still change, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. A representative for Scale did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Meta declined to comment. Scale AI, whose customers include Microsoft Corp. and OpenAI, provides data labeling services to help companies train machine-learning models and has become a key beneficiary of the generative AI boom. The startup was last valued at about $14 billion in 2024, in a funding round that included backing from Meta and Microsoft. Earlier this year, Bloomberg reported that Scale was in talks for a tender offer that would value it at $25 billion. This would be Meta's biggest ever external AI investment, and a rare move for the company. The social media giant has before now mostly depended on its in-house research, plus a more open development strategy, to make improvements in its AI technology. Meanwhile, Big Tech peers have invested heavily: Microsoft has put more than $13 billion into OpenAI while both Inc. and Alphabet Inc. have put billions into rival Anthropic. Part of those companies' investments have been through credits to use their computing power. Meta doesn't have a cloud business, and it's unclear what format Meta's investment will Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg has made AI Meta's top priority, and said in January that the company would spend as much as $65 billion on related projects this year. The company's push includes an effort to make Llama the industry standard worldwide. Meta's AI chatbot — already available on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp — is used by 1 billion people per month. Scale, co-founded in 2016 by CEO Alexandr Wang, has been growing quickly: The startup generated revenue of $870 million last year and expects sales to more than double to $2 billion in 2025, Bloomberg previously reported. Scale plays a key role in making AI data available for companies. Because AI is only as good as the data that goes into it, Scale uses scads of contract workers to tidy up and tag images, text and other data that can then be used for AI and Meta share an interest in defense tech. Last week, Meta announced a new partnership with defense contractor Anduril Industries Inc. to develop products for the US military, including an AI-powered helmet with virtual and augmented reality features. Meta has also granted approval for US government agencies and defense contractors to use its AI models. The company is already partnering with Scale on a program called Defense Llama — a version of Meta's Llama large language model intended for military use. Scale has increasingly been working with the US government to develop AI for defense purposes. Earlier this year the startup said it won a contract with the Defense Department to work on AI agent technology. The company called the contract 'a significant milestone in military advancement.'
