Microsoft and Google retire from Scale Ai to Metas billions

Published on: June 15, 2025 / update from: June 15, 2025 - Author: Konrad Wolfenstein

Microsoft and Google retire from Scale Ai to Metas billions of investment-Image: Xpert.digital

Meta grabs Scale Ai for $ 14.3 billion - the youngest billionaire changes to Zuckerberg

Metas strategic takeover shakes the AI industry

With a spectacular investment of $ 14.3 billion, Meta Platforms acquired a 49 percent share of Scale AI and thus evaluated the company at $ 29 billion. This transaction is the second largest individual investment in meta history after the 2014 WhatsApp takeover for $ 19 billion.

As part of the deal, Scale Ai founder and CEO Alexandr Wang (28) to Meta changes to lead a new “superintelligence” department. Wang, who is considered the youngest self-made billionaire in the world, is intended to help Meta to catch up in the AI race against Openai, Google and Anthropic.

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Data rates for training: Meta invests $ 14.3 billion in Scale AI-a strategic AI move

Google ends lucrative partnership

According to insiders, Google, the largest customer of Scale AI so far, is planning the complete exit from cooperation. The search engine giant originally planned to pay Scale Ai this year around $ 200 million for the training data annotated by humans that are essential for the development of Google's AI model Gemini.

Already this week, Google had talks with several competitors from Scale AI in order to outsource a large part of the data labeling work. Last year Google spent around $ 150 million for Scale AIS services.

Microsoft and other tech giants follow

In addition to Google, Microsoft also withdraws from working with Scale Ai. Elon Musks Xai also wants to get out, while Openai had started to reduce its dependence on scale months ago, even though the company emphasizes to continue working with scale as one of many providers.

The decisions of the tech giants are based on the fear that their proprietary data and research strategies could be revealed to a direct competitor. Through contracts with Scale AI, customers often pass on sensitive information and prototypes of products, for which SCALE employees provide data identification services.

Competitors benefit from the uncertainty

The uncertainty in the industry benefits Scale AIS competitors. Labelbox CEO Manu Sharma told Reuters that his company will generate “probably hundreds of millions of new income” by customers by the end of the year.

Jonathan Siddharth, CEO of the Scale competitor Turing, commented: “The meta-scale deal marks a turning point. Leading AI laboratories recognize that neutrality is no longer optional, but indispensable”. Other competitors such as Handshake and Mercor report a significant increase in customer inquiries.

Scale AIS business model under pressure

Scale AI, founded in 2016, has established itself as an important player in the area of data advertising and generated sales of around $ 870 million in 2024. According to reports this year, the company expects more than $ 2 billion sales.

The company operates an extensive network of employees, many of them freelancers, carry out specialized data identification. The quality of this data annotated by humans is considered crucial for the development of advanced AI models such as chatt.

Future of Scale Ai uncertain

Despite the customer losses, a Scale AI spokesman emphasizes that the company's business remains strong and that one feels committed to protecting customer data. Jason Droege, previously Chief Strategy Officer, temporarily takes over the CEO position after Wang has switched to Meta.

The development shows how quickly alliances can shift in the AI industry and how critically neutrality and data protection have become for companies that are increasingly struggling for technological forprises in an increasingly competitive market.

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