Meta Eyes $10 Billion Investment in Scale AI Amid Generative AI Boom

Meta Platforms Inc. is reportedly in advanced talks to invest over $10 billion in Scale AI, marking what could be its largest external AI investment to date. This move underscores Meta’s aggressive expansion into artificial intelligence, as it aims to establish its proprietary Llama model as a global standard.

A Strategic Bet on Generative AI

Founded in 2016, Scale AI specializes in data labeling for machine learning models and counts OpenAI and Microsoft among its clients. Its importance has surged with the rise of generative AI, helping corporations refine massive datasets needed to train large language models. Bloomberg reported that Scale generated $870 million in revenue in 2024 and expects to more than double that to $2 billion in 2025.

Meta's Largest External AI Deal

The potential deal would represent a rare external investment by Meta, which has traditionally relied on internal research and open-source development. With rivals like Microsoft investing over $13 billion into OpenAI and Amazon and Alphabet funding Anthropic, Meta’s pivot toward external partnerships signals a notable strategy shift.

This could be one of the largest private company investments ever seen in the AI sector.

David Carnevali

Llama and the AI Arms Race

CEO Mark Zuckerberg has made AI Meta’s top priority, announcing plans to spend up to $65 billion this year on related initiatives. At the heart of this effort is Llama Meta’s large language model which powers chatbots used by over 1 billion people monthly across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

Scale and Meta are already collaborating on Defense Llama, a militarized version of Llama tailored for U.S. defense applications. This aligns with both companies’ growing interest in military and government AI solutions.

Government Partnerships and Defense Push

Scale recently secured a significant contract with the U.S. Department of Defense to develop AI agent technologies. The company labeled the agreement as a major milestone in military advancement. Meta has also authorized its AI models for use by U.S. government agencies and defense contractors, further blurring the lines between commercial AI innovation and national defense objectives.

AI is only as powerful as the data that fuels it and Scale is uniquely positioned to deliver that fuel at scale.

Shirin Ghaffary

What’s Next for Meta and Scale?

While the terms of the investment are not finalized and could change, insiders suggest this deal would cement Meta’s competitive stance against Big Tech rivals. With no cloud business of its own, Meta must find alternative paths to build computing and data infrastructure partnerships like this may be the key.

As the generative AI race accelerates, Meta’s bold bet on Scale could define the next era of artificial intelligence one where data dominance and defense capabilities play a central role in shaping global tech leadership.