Meta is making a bold move to strengthen its position in the global artificial intelligence (AI) race with a $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI.

The social media giant has acquired a 49 per cent stake in the startup and appointed its 28-year-old CEO, Alexandr Wang, to lead a newly established AI lab within Meta.

Wang will now report directly to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, while remaining on Scale AI’s board of directors. Jason Droege, formerly Scale's chief strategy officer, has stepped in as interim CEO.

The investment is seen as Meta’s most aggressive push in AI since the underwhelming launch of its Llama 4 language model earlier this year.

Despite high expectations, the rollout of Llama 4 was plagued by delays and controversy, leaving it lagging behind competitors such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini and Anthropic’s Claude.

Meta’s partnership with Wang is part of a wider strategy to rebuild its AI ambitions and develop what it calls “superintelligence.”

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Zuckerberg has reportedly been courting AI talent from rival firms with substantial offers in a bid to fast-track progress.

Scale AI, founded by Wang, provides annotated data essential for training AI models, working with leading tech firms including Google and OpenAI.

The company also maintains high-profile government contracts, including with the US Department of Defense and the Qatari government.

Notably, Meta has opted for a 49 per cent non-voting stake in Scale, likely to avoid additional regulatory scrutiny amidst ongoing antitrust investigations.

Wang described Meta’s investment as a major milestone, assuring Scale employees that those holding equity will benefit from the deal. He will now oversee Meta’s new AI lab, which is expected to focus on building general intelligence systems.

Further details on the lab’s mission are set to be revealed in the coming weeks.

Source: With inputs from India Today