Meta bets $14.3 billion on Scale AI, OpenAI and Google urgently seek alternative data sources

According to Bloomberg, shortly after Meta Platforms Inc. invested billions of dollars in Scale AI and hired its founder, OpenAI announced the termination of its partnership with the data labeling startup Scale AI.

An OpenAI spokesperson confirmed the decision, stating that Scale AI only accounts for a small portion of OpenAI’s overall data needs. The spokesperson mentioned that the company had already begun to reduce its reliance on Scale AI before OpenAI’s competitor Meta acquired a 49% stake in Scale AI. The spokesperson also added that OpenAI has been looking for other vendors to obtain more specialized data to support increasingly advanced AI models.

After Meta completed this unusual transaction, OpenAI’s plans brought new uncertainty to Scale AI’s business. Meta invested $14.3 billion in Scale and poached the startup’s CEO, Alexandr Wang, to form a new “superintelligence” division focused on building more powerful and hypothesis-driven artificial intelligence software. Other Scale employees are also expected to follow Wang to Meta to work on AI-related projects.

A spokesperson for Scale AI declined to comment.

Scale was founded in 2016 and has signed on well-known clients including Alphabet Inc.‘s Google, Meta, and OpenAI, providing them with the data needed to build artificial intelligence models. However, the deal between Meta and Scale has raised concerns that the social media company may gain further insight into its competitors’ AI development efforts. According to reports from Reuters citing anonymous sources, Google plans to cut ties with Scale.