Latest news with #DefenseLlama
NDTV
13-06-2025
- Business
- NDTV
Meta Invests Over $10 Million In Scale AI, Takes In CEO Alexandr Wang
Scale AI announced a major new investment by Meta late Thursday that values the startup at more than $29 billion and puts its founder to work for the tech titan. Company founder and chief executive Alexandr Wang will join Meta to help with the tech giant's own artificial intelligence efforts as part of the deal, according to the startup. Meta was reportedly pouring more than $10 billion into San Francisco-based Scale AI, and acquires its 28-year-old CEO amid fierce competition in the AI race with rivals such as OpenAI, Google and Microsoft. "Meta has finalised our strategic partnership and investment in Scale AI," a Meta spokesperson said in response to an AFP inquiry. "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." Meta promised more details about the move in coming weeks. Scale AI works with business, governments and labs to exploit the benefits of artificial intelligence, according to the startup. "Meta's investment recognises Scale's accomplishments to date and reaffirms that our path forward -- like that of AI -- is limitless," Wang said in a release. "Scale bridges the gap between human values and technology to help our customers realize AI's full potential." Since Wang founded Scale AI in 2016, it has grown to more than 1,500 people, he wrote in a post on X. He said a few other employees, whom he referred to as "Scaliens," will go with him to work on Meta's AI initiative. Wang described his departure as "bittersweet," adding he will remain a member of the Scale AI board of directors. - Military AI - Along with work that includes AI data, agents, and optimizing systems, Scale AI late last year announced an artificial intelligence model built on Meta's Llama 3 model that is customized for US national security missions including planning military or intelligence operations and understanding adversary vulnerabilities. Listed capabilities of "Defense Llama" include assessing scenarios and answering tactical questions such as how enemies might attack and how to effectively counter, according to Scale AI. "Scale AI is committed to ongoing collaboration with the defense community to ensure Defense Llama remains a trusted and effective asset for US military and intelligence operations," Wang said at the time. Scale AI will use the infusion of capital to accelerate innovation and strengthen partnerships, along with distributing proceeds to equity holders, according to the startup. Meta will hold a minority stake in Scale AI after the investment deal closes, but an exact figure was not revealed. Tech industry veteran and investor Jason Droege, a co-founder of Uber Eats food delivery platform, will take over as chief of Scale AI, according to the company. "Scale has led the charge in accelerating AI development," Droege said in a release. "We have built the strongest foundation to tackle AI's data challenges and push the boundaries of what's possible." Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg recently touted his tech firm's generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) assistant, telling shareholders it is used by a billion people each month across its platforms.
eNCA
13-06-2025
- Business
- eNCA
Meta makes major investment in Scale AI, takes in CEO
USA - Scale AI announced a major new investment by Meta late Thursday that values the startup at more than $29 billion and puts its founder to work for the tech titan. Company founder and chief executive Alexandr Wang will join Meta to help with the tech giant's own artificial intelligence efforts as part of the deal, according to the startup. Meta was reportedly pouring more than $10 billion into San Francisco-based Scale AI, and acquires its 28-year-old CEO amid fierce competition in the AI race with rivals such as OpenAI, Google and Microsoft. "Meta has finalized our strategic partnership and investment in Scale AI," a Meta spokesperson said in response to an AFP inquiry. "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." Meta promised more details about the move in coming weeks. Scale AI works with business, governments and labs to exploit the benefits of artificial intelligence, according to the startup. "Meta's investment recognises Scale's accomplishments to date and reaffirms that our path forward - like that of AI - is limitless," Wang said in a release. "Scale bridges the gap between human values and technology to help our customers realise AI's full potential." Since Wang founded Scale AI in 2016, it has grown to more than 1,500 people, he wrote in a post on X. He said a few other employees, whom he referred to, as "Scaliens," will go with him to work on Meta's AI initiative. Wang described his departure as "bittersweet," adding he will remain a member of the Scale AI board of directors. - Military AI - Along with work that includes AI data, agents, and optimising systems, Scale AI late last year announced an artificial intelligence model built on Meta's Llama 3 model that is customised for US national security missions including planning military or intelligence operations and understanding adversary vulnerabilities. Listed capabilities of "Defense Llama" include assessing scenarios and answering tactical questions such as how enemies might attack and how to effectively counter, according to Scale AI. "Scale AI is committed to ongoing collaboration with the defense community to ensure Defense Llama remains a trusted and effective asset for US military and intelligence operations," Wang said at the time. Scale AI will use the infusion of capital to accelerate innovation and strengthen partnerships, along with distributing proceeds to equity holders, according to the startup. Meta will hold a minority stake in Scale AI after the investment deal closes, but an exact figure was not revealed. Tech industry veteran and investor Jason Droege, a co-founder of Uber Eats food delivery platform, will take over as chief of Scale AI, according to the company. "Scale has led the charge in accelerating AI development," Droege said in a release. "We have built the strongest foundation to tackle AI's data challenges and push the boundaries of what's possible." Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg recently touted his tech firm's generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) assistant, telling shareholders it is used by a billion people each month across its platforms.
CNBC
10-06-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Zuckerberg makes his biggest AI bet as Meta nears $14 billion stake in Scale AI, hires founder Wang
Mark Zuckerberg is so frustrated with Meta's standing in artificial intelligence that he's willing to spend billions of dollars to convince Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang to join his company, people familiar with the matter told CNBC. Meta is finalizing a deal to invest $14 billion into Scale AI, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named because the terms are confidential. Bloomberg reported earlier this week that an investment could top $10 billion, and a story from The Information on Tuesday said Meta would pay close to $15 billion. As a founder of one of the most prominent AI startups, Wang has built a reputation as an ambitious leader who both understands AI's technical complexities and how to build a business that's not merely focused on research, according to two former Meta AI employees who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity. Zuckerberg will be counting on Wang to better execute Meta's AI ambitions following the lukewarm launch of the company's latest Llama AI models. By not directly acquiring Scale AI, Meta appears to be taking a similar strategy as companies like Google and Microsoft, which have brought in prominent leaders in AI from the startups and Inflection AI by taking large stakes in those companies rather than buying them outright. Meta is currently on trial against the Federal Trade Commission for antitrust claims, and the company doesn't want to further upset regulators by acquiring Scale AI, multiple people familiar with the matter said. As part of the deal, Meta will take a 49% stake in the data-labelling and annotation startup, The Information reported, while Wang will help lead a new AI research lab at the social networking company and will be joined by some of his colleagues. The New York Times was first to report about the new AI lab. Scale AI, founded in 2016, has made a splash in the era of generative AI by helping major tech companies like OpenAI, Google and Microsoft prepare data they use to train cutting-edge AI models. Meta is one of Scale AI's biggest customers, according to two people familiar with the matter. The startup, valued in a funding round about a year ago at $14 billion, is number 28 on CNBC's Disruptor 50 list. In mid-2024, the company signed one of the biggest recent commercial leases in San Francisco, gobbling up about 180,000 square feet of space in a downtown building that had been occupied by Airbnb. Scale AI has increasingly made in-roads into the defense industry, and in March announced a multimillion dollar deal with the Department of Defense. In November, it collaborated with Meta on Defense Llama, a custom version of Meta's open-source Llama foundation model designed specifically to "support American national security missions," the company said in a blog post. Meta and Scale AI declined to comment. Heading into 2025, AI was one of Meta's top priorities. But Zuckerberg has grown agitated that rivals like OpenAI appear to be ahead in both underlying AI models and consumer-facing apps, current and former Meta employees said. Zuckerberg has been deprioritizing its Fundamental Artificial Intelligence Research unit, or FAIR, in favor of its more product-oriented GenAI team to help Meta make headway in AI and improve its Llama family of AI models, CNBC previously reported. Meta's release of its Llama 4 AI models in April was not well received by developers, further frustrating Zuckerberg, the people said. At the time, Meta only released two smaller versions of Llama 4 and said it would eventually release a bigger and more powerful "Behemoth" model. That model has yet to be made available due to Zuckerberg's concerns about its capabilities relative to competing models, the people said. In particular, there is concern about how Behemoth stacks up against the latest from companies like OpenAI and China's DeepSeek, whose models are preferred by the wider developer community. Following Llama 4's lackluster debut, Meta conducted a reorganization of its GenAI unit, splitting it into two. Connor Hayes, a longstanding Meta employee, was put in charge of AI Products, while AGI Foundations was given to Amir Frenkel, previously a vice president of engineering and product for Meta's Reality Labs hardware unit, and Ahmad Al-Dahle, the previous head of GenAI. Al-Dahle's new position as a co-leader was seen as a sign that Zuckerberg had lost confidence in him, the people said. Zuckerberg admires Wang and considers him capable of a major role at Meta as an AI leader, the people said. A dropout from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Wang has built a sizable business and is familiar with AI's technical intricacies. The people described Wang as a "wartime CEO" who is in line with Zuckerberg's position that the U.S. faces increasing competition from China, thus requiring help from the tech industry. Wang told CNBC in January that he believes there is an "AI war" between the U.S. and China, and that the U.S. will need more computing power in order to compete. "The United States is going to need a huge amount of computational capacity, a huge amount of infrastructure," Wang said at the time. "We need to unleash U.S. energy to enable this AI boom." It's an unusual move for Zuckerberg, who has traditionally put loyalists in high-ranking positions. But it shows the magnitude of the moment and Zuckerberg's belief that a prominent outsider like Wang may be better positioned than any current Meta employee to bolster the company's position in AI, the people said. Wang also brings a lot of outside knowledge of how competitors like OpenAI are building their consumer chatbots and AI models. Data labelling and training has become more complicated in recent years as the capabilities of AI models has increased, said Vahan Petrosyan, the CEO of SuperAnnotate, one of Scale AI's competitors. "I would say Scale have covered probably 70% of all the models that are built," Petrosyan said. With Wang and others from Scale AI, Meta could gain "collective intelligence on how to build a better ChatGPT.""When Meta is buying them, they're buying their intelligence," Petrosyan said.
Time of India
09-06-2025
- 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.'
Business Insider
09-06-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Meta Is Making a Big Bold Investment of Over $10B in Scale AI
Meta Platforms (META) is reportedly in talks to invest over $10 billion in artificial intelligence (AI) startup Scale AI. The news was first reported by Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter. If finalized, this investment would represent a significant shift for Meta, marking its largest external funding commitments to date. It would also be one of the largest private-sector funding deals in the AI sector to date. Confident Investing Starts Here: The terms of the deal remain unknown and are subject to change. The startup was valued at $13.8 billion in its most recent funding round, in which Meta, Nvidia (NVDA), and Amazon (AMZN) had participated. Bloomberg had reported earlier this year, that Scale AI was in talks for another funding round, potentially valuing the company at roughly $25 billion. Meta Is Investing Billions in Scale AI Scale AI was founded in 2016 by CEO Alexandr Wang. The company specializes in data labeling: assigning labels/tags to images, text, and other data used for training AI models. Scale AI has been growing rapidly and has become one of the prime beneficiaries of the generative AI revolution. In 2024, Scale AI generated revenue of $870 million and is set to more than double its sales this year to reach $2 billion. Scale AI serves a diverse set of customers, including Microsoft (MSFT), ChatGPT maker OpenAI, and the U.S. Department of Defense. The company uses a vast network of contract workers to scan, organize, and label troves of datasets, thus facilitating efficient AI model training. This process is crucial, since machine learning models require the usage and input of enormous amounts of data, and Scale AI's services enable companies to train their models more swiftly and with greater precision. Meta Is Going All-In on AI Meanwhile, Meta is going all-in on AI investments. It has committed to invest up to $65 billion in AI related projects this year. Although Meta does not operate its own cloud services platform, it has developed a successful series of large language AI models called Llama. Meta's Llama chatbot is used by approximately 1 billion users per month on its Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp apps. Notably, Meta and Scale AI have also partnered earlier to develop the Defense Llama model for the government. Moreover, Meta's AI models are used by U.S. government agencies and defense contractors for military applications. Last week, Meta also struck a 20-year deal with nuclear energy company Constellation Energy (CEG) to buy green credits from its Illinois nuclear plant, effective 2027. This deal ensures a stable and sustainable energy supply for Meta's massive AI and data center operations, supporting its commitment to achieving net-zero emissions. Is META a Good Company to Buy? Wall Street remains highly optimistic about Meta Platforms' long-term stock trajectory. On TipRanks, META stock has a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 41 Buys, three Holds, and one Sell rating. Also, the average Meta Platforms price target of $697.55 implies that shares are almost fully valued at current levels. Year-to-date, META stock has gained 19.3%.
