Meta Gets Out Its Checkbook to Catch Up in the AI Race
Mark Zuckerberg’s investment in Scale AI and its founder, Alexandr Wang, shows how artificial-intelligence startups have become farm teams for the big-spending giants.
Top prospect.
Photographer: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
It sounded like something that should have come from the sports desk — a $14.3 billion transfer fee for a young up-and-coming prospect as Meta Platforms Inc. looks to rebuild its team for the tough season ahead. The head coach is an under-pressure Mark Zuckerberg, and the hot talent is Alexandr Wang, 28. His company is Scale AI, and Meta is taking a 49% stake, it was confirmed last week.
Were this an acquisition, it would be the second largest in Meta’s history after its $19 billion purchase of WhatsApp in 2014. But it’s not an acquisition, so don’t call it that, even though it bears many of the hallmarks of one.