Silicon Valley earthquake! Alexandr Wang joins Meta, turning OpenAI, Microsoft, and Alphabet into "invisible people" overnight

Silicon Valley has trembled again. And this time, the epicenter points directly to the core of AI.

Today, a piece of news ignited the entire tech circle: the 28-year-old founder and CEO of Scale AI, Chinese genius Alexandr Wang, announced his resignation in a company-wide letter and joined Meta in a move that can only be described as a "game changer."

This is not just a simple job change.

Accompanying him is a massive strategic investment from Meta amounting to $15 billion.

Mark Zuckerberg is sparing no expense, not only poaching the most pivotal figure in the AI field but also potentially gaining direct control over the "vulnerabilities" of all competitors.

Sam Altman and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella are likely holding an emergency strategy meeting right now. Because the playing field of this AI race may have been completely overturned overnight.

Why is the "invisible arms dealer" worth $15 billion?

You may not have heard of Alexandr Wang. That's normal. But this is precisely the crux of the issue.

In the gold rush of AI, while everyone is focused on the shiny "gold mines" like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini, Alexandr Wang has quietly started a business selling "shovels" and "jeans," and has achieved global monopoly.

The company he founded, Scale AI, is engaged in the most arduous and fundamental work in the AI field—data labeling.

In simple terms, it means "feeding" AI. All sophisticated AI models must be nourished by vast amounts of high-quality "feed" (i.e., labeled data). Without Scale AI, most AI models are just a pile of non-functional code.

What’s even more critical is that Scale AI's client list reads like a "who's who" of AI: OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, the U.S. military... and of course, Meta itself.

What does this mean?

Over the past few years, the core R&D progress, model weaknesses, and technical routes of almost all AI giants have been laid bare before Alexandr Wang. He is the only "invisible arms dealer" in this war who can freely enter and exit all competitors' arsenals.

He holds the "oil" of AI—data—and understands everyone's cards.

Zuckerberg's audacious gamble: buying people, buying companies, and buying intelligence

Recently, Meta has been suffering setbacks in the AI arena, top talent has been leaving, and product responses have been mediocre. Zuckerberg's anxiety is palpable This time, he clearly does not intend to chase slowly anymore. He chose a risky move, but also a decisive one.

This $15 billion deal is at least a threefold win:

1. Acquiring top talent: Alexandr Wang is not only a technical genius but also a strategic mastermind. This 28-year-old MIT dropout has built a multi-billion dollar AI infrastructure empire from scratch; his strategic vision and execution capabilities are invaluable to Meta.

2. Binding core factories: By becoming a major shareholder of Scale AI (rumored to hold 49%), Meta has indirectly controlled the "ammunition depot" of the AI industry. In the future, its model development will have the highest priority and the best quality data support.

3. Performing the ultimate "undercover operation": This is the most chilling aspect for competitors. When Alexandr Wang joins Meta, he brings not just himself but also a "God's eye view" of the entire industry, especially the R&D processes of core competitors like OpenAI and Microsoft. Overnight, all giants like OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google may have become "transparent" in front of Meta.

This acquisition is less about talent acquisition and more about a complete victory in the intelligence war.

A farewell letter, a "decent" harvest

While igniting the industry, Alexandr Wang also brought a "windfall" to his employees.

In his all-staff letter, he emotionally recalled his journey from dropping out of MIT to starting a business and admitted that the decision to leave was filled with reluctance. But more importantly, he announced that the profits from Meta's investment would be directly distributed to the company's shareholders and employee stockholders.

This means that countless Scale AI employees will wake up tomorrow morning to find themselves receiving substantial cash rewards.

This move is impeccable: it not only completes a stunning leap in his personal career but also brings generous returns to the team that has followed him for years, paving the way for the company's future, making it a textbook-level "decent" farewell.

Alexandr Wang's all-staff letter

Thank you

Team members:

When I founded Scale in 2016, it was during the early breakthrough wave in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). At that time, DeepMind had just released AlphaGo, and Google had just launched TensorFlow—everything was still in very early stages. But we already clearly recognized that data is the lifeblood of AI systems, which was the original intention behind founding Scale. Since then, we have embarked on an extraordinary journey together.

We have grown into a team of over 1,500 people and have become a trusted partner for model builders, enterprises, and governments in deploying the most intelligent AI tools and applications. Today, Scale is one of the most influential companies in the world, accelerating the development of what may be the most important technology in human history Today, we announce a significant new investment from Meta. This is an important milestone in the company's development and a strong affirmation of everyone's hard work towards achieving the mission of Scale.

With this solid foundation, it is now time to open a new chapter. Building this company alongside you has been everything to me—I founded it after finishing my freshman year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and have been committed ever since. Every moment over the past years has been marked by your presence. For this, I have no regrets.

When this opportunity first arose, my initial reaction was one of uncertainty. To be honest, the thought of no longer being a part of Scale (Scalien) was unimaginable. But after taking the time to think it through, I realized this is a very unique moment, not just for me personally, but for the entire Scale. It provides a rare opportunity for me to give back to everyone who has contributed to Scale's development while also allowing the company to move forward more robustly in the future.

As you may have learned from recent news, such significant opportunities often come with a cost. This time, the cost is my departure. It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your CEO.

Regarding my next steps, I will be leaving Scale to join Meta with a few colleagues, focusing on their AI projects. While my feelings about stepping down as CEO are mixed, I will never abandon Scale. I will continue to serve as a board member, supporting the company's mission and long-term vision.

As part of my transition, I am pleased to announce that, with the unanimous agreement of the board, Jason Droege will serve as interim CEO. Jason has demonstrated extraordinary capabilities in creating and developing businesses like Uber Eats and AXON, making him the best candidate for this position. Jason understands our business and knows how Scale can seize the tremendous opportunities ahead. At the same time, Jason is working closely with the board to recruit a strong Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to strengthen our engineering team. Let me be clear: if I did not firmly believe that Jason and the other team members are the best leaders to guide us forward, I would not offer such strong support.

Today's investment also allows us to give back to everyone for their hard work and dedication to Scale over the past few years. The proceeds from the investment from Meta will be distributed to you as shareholders and equity holders, and you will continue to have the opportunity to share in our future growth as equity holders of the company. This outstanding team has always been key to our success, and I am pleased to reward everyone through this significant liquidity distribution.

Thank you for all your contributions

Alex

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