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Meta is reorganizing its artificial intelligence operations and forming a new research lab dedicated to the development of “superintelligence,” a theoretical form of AI that surpasses human cognitive capabilities.
According to a report from The Information, Meta is finalizing a deal for a 49% stake in Scale AI for $14.8 billion. The initiative, which has not yet been publicly announced, will reportedly include hiring Alexandr Wang, the 28-year-old founder and CEO of Scale AI, according to people familiar with the matter. Meta’s potential investment could also bring other Scale AI employees into the fold.
Scale AI founder and CEO Alexandr Wang.
The effort comes amid fierce competition among tech giants to dominate the evolving AI landscape. Companies like Meta, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon have made substantial financial commitments to both internal research and external partnerships. Meta’s move to establish a new superintelligence-focused lab follows similar ambitions from other companies aiming to build artificial general intelligence (AGI), a hypothetical AI system capable of performing any intellectual task a human can do. Superintelligence, which would exceed even AGI, still remains a long-term and highly speculative goal.
The lab’s formation is part of a larger restructuring of Meta’s AI divisions. In recent months, the company has faced challenges including internal leadership disputes, staff turnover, and criticism over the performance of some of its AI product releases. As Meta works to sharpen its focus, it is reportedly offering large compensation packages to attract talent from competitors like OpenAI and Google.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg has made AI a top priority, investing heavily in infrastructure and product development. Since the debut of ChatGPT in 2022, Meta has accelerated its AI efforts, including launching a generative AI group led by VP Ahmad Al-Dahle and releasing its own large language model family, Llama. Yann LeCun, Meta’s chief AI scientist and a Turing Award winner, continues to lead the company’s AI research efforts. LeCun is known for his early work on neural networks and for taking a more skeptical view of short-term AGI prospects.
As part of its AI strategy, Meta has increasingly sought to build partnerships and tap external talent to regain momentum. Scale AI’s growing role in the AI ecosystem could explain why Meta is turning to the company and its founder Wang for its next phase of development. Scale AI provides data labeling and annotation services to major players including OpenAI, Meta, and the Department of Defense, and has built a software stack to help organizations manage and prepare data for large language models. The company’s last $1 billion funding round was in May 2024, giving it a valuation close to $14 billion at the time. Scale AI now seems to be positioned as a critical supplier of the high-quality data and tooling needed to train and deploy trustworthy AI systems.
Neither Meta nor Scale AI has commented on the deal. The terms of Meta’s potential investment and the structure of the new lab have not yet been made public.
