Meta Platforms is in advanced discussions to invest more than $10 billion in Scale AI, marking its most ambitious external move yet in the intensifying race for dominance in artificial intelligence.
According to insiders, the potential investment—if finalised—would be one of the largest private funding deals in technology history, surpassing even major AI investments made by Microsoft, Amazon, and Google.
The deal would dramatically elevate Scale AI’s valuation, currently at $14 billion, with recent private market chatter hinting at a possible jump to $25 billion.
Founded in 2016 by Alexandr Wang, Scale AI has emerged as a cornerstone of the generative AI ecosystem. The company specialises in data labelling—a critical process that involves cleaning, tagging, and structuring raw data such as text, images, and video for machine-learning models. With the demand for high-quality training data skyrocketing, Scale AI counts Microsoft, OpenAI, and Meta among its elite clientele.
For Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, this move represents a strategic evolution. Historically cautious about external AI investments, Meta has preferred to focus on in-house research, open-sourcing its large language models (LLMs), and building internal capacity.
But this proposed investment signals a new direction: building a vertically integrated AI empire, with Scale AI at its core.
Zuckerberg has made clear that AI is now central to Meta’s future. Earlier this year, he announced the company would spend up to $65 billion on AI development in 2025.
At the heart of this push is Meta’s Llama LLM, which now powers chatbot features across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, collectively reaching over a billion users monthly.
Unlike its rivals, Meta does not operate a cloud platform—a key advantage leveraged by Amazon, Google, and Microsoft in AI partnerships. That makes Meta’s stake in Scale particularly unique.
Rather than bundling computing credits or cloud services, Meta’s investment is likely to come in the form of pure capital and strategic integration, including the incorporation of Meta’s AI models into Scale’s enterprise and defence offerings.
That defence link is more than speculative. Scale AI recently secured a significant contract with the United States Department of Defense to develop advanced AI agent technologies. The company described the deal as a milestone in military innovation.
In parallel, Meta and Scale are collaborating on “Defence Llama”—a military-adapted version of Meta’s flagship LLM—showing how AI once built for social media is now being re-engineered for battlefield applications.
The move comes as Meta also partners with Anduril Industries, a prominent US defence tech firm, to co-develop augmented reality tools, including AI-powered combat helmets.
Meta’s AI models are now cleared for use by US government agencies and contractors, laying the groundwork for a new kind of defence ecosystem—one in which Meta is a central player.
Scale AI’s financial growth adds weight to Meta’s interest. The company generated $870 million in revenue in 2024 and is projected to exceed $2 billion in 2025.
Its rapid ascent reflects surging global demand for clean, structured, bias-free data—essential fuel for everything from autonomous vehicles to intelligent search and military drones.
Meta’s potential acquisition of a major stake in Scale AI would mark a departure from its previous approach and could reshape the competitive landscape.
While rivals dominate via cloud infrastructure, Meta appears to be betting on tight integration of data, models, and mission-critical deployments across both civilian and defence sectors.
In an era where data is the new oil, Scale AI is the refinery—and Meta, it seems, is positioning itself as its most powerful investor.
Meta’s potential $10 billion-plus investment in Scale AI is more than just a headline—it’s a declaration of long-term strategy. As the global AI arms race accelerates, Zuckerberg is no longer content to play catch-up.
By backing Scale AI, Meta aims to secure the foundation of next-generation AI: the data infrastructure that fuels everything from chatbots to combat systems. This deal, if concluded, could fundamentally reshape Meta—and the future of artificial intelligence itself.
