Meta gets out its chequebook to catch up in the AI race
Mark Zuckerberg’s investment in Scale AI and its founder Alexandr Wang shows how AI startups have become farm teams for the big-spending giants
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IT SOUNDED like something that should have come from the sports desk – a US$14.3 billion transfer fee for a young up-and-coming prospect as Meta Platforms looks to rebuild its team for the tough season ahead. The head coach is an under-pressure Mark Zuckerberg, and the hot talent is Alexandr Wang, 28. His company is Scale AI, and Meta is taking a 49 per cent stake, it was confirmed last week.
Were this an acquisition, it would be the second-largest in Meta’s history, after its US$19 billion purchase of WhatsApp in 2014. But it is not an acquisition, so do not call it that, even though it bears many of the hallmarks of one.
Wang is going to join Meta as a top executive tasked with running a crack team to build an artificial intelligence (AI) superintelligence, sitting next to Zuckerberg at Meta’s headquarters. Other Scale AI employees will join, too, according to multiple reports.
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