Meta plans to invest over $10 billion in Scale AI, setting a new record for private company financing

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2025.06.08 09:16
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Meta is in negotiations for a multi-billion dollar investment with Scale AI, with financing potentially exceeding $10 billion, which would set a new record for private company financing if successful. This would be Meta's largest external AI investment, marking its interest in defense technology. Scale AI focuses on data labeling, with revenue of $870 million last year, and is expected to double to $2 billion by 2025

It is reported that Meta is negotiating a multi-billion dollar investment with artificial intelligence startup Scale AI, with the financing potentially exceeding $10 billion.

According to media reports on the 8th, Meta is in talks with artificial intelligence startup Scale AI for a possible investment exceeding $10 billion. If successful, this would become one of the largest private financing deals in history. The media cited informed sources revealing that the terms of the deal have not yet been finalized and may still change.

This investment would be Meta's largest external AI investment to date and a rare move for the social media giant. Previously, Meta primarily relied on internal research and open development strategies to advance AI technology.

Of particular interest is the shared interest between Scale and Meta in defense technology. Last week, Meta announced a new partnership with defense contractor Anduril Industries to develop products for the U.S. military; Scale is also increasingly collaborating with the U.S. government to develop military AI.

Meta Splashes Out $10 Billion! Military Ambitions Come to Light?

Scale AI was co-founded by CEO Alexandr Wang in 2016 and specializes in providing data labeling services to help companies train machine learning models, becoming a major beneficiary of the generative AI boom. Its clients include Microsoft and OpenAI.

The startup is experiencing rapid growth: last year, revenue reached $870 million, and sales are expected to double to $2 billion by 2025. Scale was valued at approximately $14 billion in its 2024 funding round, with both Meta and Microsoft participating. Earlier this year, media reports indicated that Scale was negotiating a buyout offer valued at $25 billion.

Scale's core business is making AI data usable. Since the quality of AI is entirely dependent on the quality of input data, Scale employs a large number of contractors to organize and label images, text, and other data for AI training purposes.

Of particular interest is the shared interest between Scale and Meta in defense technology. Last week, Meta announced a new partnership with defense contractor Anduril Industries to develop products for the U.S. military, including AI-driven helmets equipped with virtual and augmented reality features. Meta has also authorized U.S. government agencies and defense contractors to use its AI models. The two companies have collaborated on a project called "Defense Llama"—a military version of Meta's Llama large language model.

Scale is also increasingly collaborating with the U.S. government to develop military AI. Earlier this year, the company announced it had won a Department of Defense AI agent technology contract, calling it "a significant milestone in military advancement." Mark Zuckerberg has listed AI as a top priority for Meta and stated in January that the company will invest up to $65 billion in related projects this year. The company's advancement plan includes efforts to make Llama the global industry standard. Meta's AI chatbot has launched on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, with monthly active users reaching 1 billion.

Unlike other tech giants that invest through cloud computing service points, Meta does not have a cloud business, and its form of investment remains unclear. However, it is certain that when Silicon Valley's social media empire begins to deeply integrate with the military-industrial complex, this multi-billion dollar deal may just be the beginning.

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