Scale AI's Alexandr Wang confirms departure for Meta as part of $14.3 billion deal

Scale AI laminitis Alexandr Wang told employees successful a memo connected Thursday that he's leaving for Meta, confirming reports from earlier successful the week astir his departure and a ample concern from the societal networking company.

Meta is pumping $14.3 cardinal into Scale AI arsenic portion of the deal, and volition person a 49% involvement successful the artificial quality startup, but volition not person immoderate voting power, a Scale AI spokesperson said.

"As you've astir apt gathered from caller news, opportunities of this magnitude often travel astatine a cost," Wang wrote successful the memo that helium shared connected X. "In this instance, that outgo is my departure. It has been the implicit top pleasance of my beingness to service arsenic your CEO."

Scale AI is promoting Jason Droege, the main strategy officer, to the CEO role. Droege was antecedently a task spouse astatine Benchmark and an Uber vice president.  

A tiny fig of Scale AI employees volition also articulation Meta arsenic portion of the agreement, Wang wrote.

A Meta spokesperson confirmed that the institution has finalized its "strategic concern and concern successful Scale AI.

"As portion of this, we volition deepen the enactment we bash unneurotic producing information for AI models and Alexandr Wang volition articulation Meta to enactment connected our superintelligence efforts," the spokesperson said. "We volition stock much astir this effort and the large radical joining this squad successful the coming weeks."

Meta's large stake connected Wang fits into CEO Mark Zuckerberg's plans to bolster his company's AI efforts amid fierce contention from OpenAI and Google-parent Alphabet. Zuckerberg has made AI his company's top precedence for 2025, but has grown progressively frustrated with his team, peculiarly arsenic Meta's latest mentation of its flagship Llama AI models received a tepid response from developers, CNBC reported earlier this week.

Although Zuckerberg has traditionally placed long-standing employees into high-ranking position, helium decided that the outsider Wang would beryllium amended suited to oversee AI initiatives deemed important for the company.

Scale AI counts a fig of Meta rivals arsenic customers, including Google, Microsoft and OpenAI. Meta is 1 of Scale AI's biggest clients.

The Scale AI spokesperson said that Meta's concern and hiring of Wang volition not interaction the startup's customers, and that Meta volition not beryllium privy to immoderate of its concern accusation oregon data.

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