Meta has reportedly invested billions of dollars into AI startup Scale AI and hired its CEO, Alexandr Wang, to lead a new AI research lab. So what does that mean for Meta and the rest of the AI ecosystem?

Alexandr Wang cofounded Scale AI. He's about to become a very expensive hire at Meta.

With Scale AI founder and CEO Alexandr Wang headed to Meta for high-profile role in artificial intelligence, the startup is promoting its strategy head.

As part of the deal, Wang will report directly to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the company announced on Thursday. He will lead a new AI lab inside Meta tasked with building “superi

This came right after reports that Meta was making a huge investment in Scale AI—about dollar14.3 billion—which gives Meta a 49% stake in the startup, but without any voting rights or control over its business decisions.

Alexandr Wang co-founded Scale AI at 19. Thanks to the rapid growth of the San Francisco data-labeling company, he was a billionaire at 24. Now 28, he’s a controversial figure, facing wage theft lawsuits from workers and pontificating in Washington about the existential stakes of artificial intelligence.