# Scale AI

URL: https://aidataforsale.com/companies/scale-ai
Publisher: AI Data For Sale (Marketing Signals Ltd)
Updated: 2026-11-10

Scale AI provides data labeling and expert-written training data to AI labs. What it does, how it works with contributors and data holders, and the alternatives.

A data labeling and training data company that works with large AI developers and the US government.

## In short

- Scale AI labels and creates training data for AI developers, using a large contract workforce.
- SiliconANGLE reported revenue of about $870 million in 2024, citing Bloomberg.
- Meta agreed a multibillion-dollar investment in June 2025 and Scale AI's chief executive, Alexandr Wang, left to join Meta.

## Profile

| Field | Detail |
| --- | --- |
| Type | Data labeling and expert training data vendor |
| Founded | 2016, co-founded by Alexandr Wang |
| Customers named in reporting | Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI and the US Department of Defense |
| Workforce | Contract workers, increasingly with advanced degrees, per Bloomberg reporting |
| Buys data from companies? | Not its core model. It creates and labels data with its own workforce. |

## What Scale AI does

Scale AI cleans, labels and creates data that AI developers use to train and evaluate models. It began with labeling text, images and other unstructured data and has moved toward more skilled work, such as writing complex problems for reinforcement learning. Bloomberg reported that about 12% of its contractors hold a PhD and about 40% hold a master's, law degree or MBA ([SiliconANGLE](https://siliconangle.com/2025/06/08/report-meta-holding-talks-10b-investment-data-labeling-startup-scale-ai/)).

Its customers have included Meta, Microsoft and OpenAI, and it has worked with the US government on defense AI, including Defense Llama, a version of Meta's Llama built for military use ([SiliconANGLE](https://siliconangle.com/2025/06/08/report-meta-holding-talks-10b-investment-data-labeling-startup-scale-ai/)).

## The Meta investment

In June 2025 Meta agreed a multibillion-dollar investment in Scale AI, and Alexandr Wang left to join Meta ([SiliconANGLE](https://siliconangle.com/2025/06/12/scale-ai-ceo-alexandr-wang-departs-join-meta-securing-multibillion-investment/)). If you compete with Meta, ask any vendor how it separates work for different customers.

## How it compares with a data broker

Scale AI produces data with its own workforce. It is the right kind of supplier when you need people to label or write data to a specification. It is not usually where a company goes to license an archive it already holds. If you hold real-world data, such as support tickets, code history or recordings, a broker or marketplace is the more direct route. See [how to sell data to AI companies](https://aidataforsale.com/learn/how-to-sell-data-to-ai-companies).

## Things to check before you sign

- Who owns the labeled output, and can the vendor reuse your guidelines or data for other clients?
- Where the workforce is located, and how your data is protected while people work on it.
- How quality is measured: agreement rates, audit samples and rework terms.
- Whether the vendor also works for your direct competitors, and what separation it offers.

## Alternatives and related companies

- [Scale AI vs Surge AI](https://aidataforsale.com/compare/scale-ai-vs-surge-ai)
- [Scale AI alternatives](https://aidataforsale.com/compare/scale-ai-alternatives)
- [Surge AI](https://aidataforsale.com/companies/surge-ai)
- [Mercor](https://aidataforsale.com/companies/mercor)
- [Labelbox](https://aidataforsale.com/companies/labelbox)
- [Appen](https://aidataforsale.com/companies/appen)
- [AI Data For Sale: how our brokerage works](https://aidataforsale.com/how-it-works)

## Questions

### Does Scale AI buy data from companies?

Its core business is creating and labeling data with its own workforce, not licensing archives from data holders. Companies that want to license existing data usually work through a marketplace or a broker.

### Who owns Scale AI?

It is a private company. Meta made a large investment in June 2025, as [reported by SiliconANGLE](https://siliconangle.com/2025/06/12/scale-ai-ceo-alexandr-wang-departs-join-meta-securing-multibillion-investment/).

## Sources

- [SiliconANGLE: Meta reportedly in talks on $10B+ investment in Scale AI (June 2025)](https://siliconangle.com/2025/06/08/report-meta-holding-talks-10b-investment-data-labeling-startup-scale-ai/)
- [SiliconANGLE: Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang departs to join Meta, securing multibillion-dollar investment (June 2025)](https://siliconangle.com/2025/06/12/scale-ai-ceo-alexandr-wang-departs-join-meta-securing-multibillion-investment/)