Organization
Scale AI
San Francisco AI company that provides data, model evaluations and AI applications to AI labs, enterprises and governments. Founded in 2016 (Y Combinator Summer 2016 batch).
- Dates
- 2016 –
- Also known as
- Scale
- Active 2016 –
- people who worked here Lucy Guo (co-founder; led operations and product design, COO) 2016–2018
- CEO Jason Droege 12 Jun 2025 – 10 Aug 2026
- chaired by Alexandr Wang (Chairman of the Board) 30 Jul 2026 –
- CEO Francis deSouza 10 Aug 2026 –
Connections 24
founded by
CEO
-
Alexandr Wang
until 12 Jun 2025
Primary record
1311161718192021
An SEC filing by Expedia dates his tenure from 2016; Fortune reports that Lucy Guo, who recruited him, was the original CEO.
-
Jason Droege
12 Jun 2025 – 10 Aug 2026
Primary record
32223
Interim CEO, appointed by Scale’s board.
-
Francis deSouza
10 Aug 2026 –
Primary record
23
Appointed by Scale's board; announced 2026-07-30, effective 2026-08-10.
chaired by
-
Alexandr Wang
30 Jul 2026 –
Chairman of the Board
Primary record
23
The date is that of Scale's announcement that calls him Chairman of the Board; when he took the post is not stated.
people who worked here
-
Lucy Guo
2016–2018
co-founder; led operations and product design, COO
Primary record
71516
COO is her title on Scale’s team page archived 2017-03-23; she left in 2018 (no month given). Her own accounts: "disagreements around products and sales" (CNBC, 2025) and "differences in product vision and road map" (Forbes, 2023).
investors
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Y Combinator
2016
Summer 2016 batch
Primary record
14192425
Also took part in the 2018 Series B as an existing investor. Scale’s 2018 release describes the May 2017 Series A as led by Accel and Y Combinator.
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Accel
May 2017
led $4.5 million Series A
Primary record
192627
Round total, not Accel’s share. May 2017 is the announcement date given by Scale’s 2018 release and Accel’s 2018 post; Scale’s own post is dated 2017-07-16.
-
Index Ventures
Aug 2018
led $18 million Series B
Primary record
141928
Round total, not Index’s share. Index partner Mike Volpi was to join Scale’s board.
-
Adam D'Angelo
5 Aug 2019
individual investor in the Series C
Primary record
2930
TechCrunch (2019) describes him as Quora’s CEO.
-
Founders Fund
5 Aug 2019
led $100 million Series C at a valuation of over $1 billion
Primary record
293031
Round total, not Founders Fund’s share. Accel, Coatue, Index Ventures, Spark Capital and Thrive Capital took part, as did Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger and Adam D’Angelo.
-
Tiger Global Management
1 Dec 2020
led $155 million Series D at a post-money valuation above $3.5 billion
Primary record
3233
Round total, not Tiger Global’s share.
-
Dragoneer Investment Group
13 Apr 2021
co-led $325 million Series E
Primary record
3435
Round total, not Dragoneer’s share. Co-led with Greenoaks Capital and Tiger Global.
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Greenoaks Capital
13 Apr 2021
co-led $325 million Series E
Primary record
3435
Round total, not Greenoaks’s share. Co-led with Dragoneer and Tiger Global.
-
Tiger Global Management
13 Apr 2021
co-led $325 million Series E at a $7.3 billion valuation
Primary record
3435
Round total, not Tiger Global’s share. Co-led with Dragoneer and Greenoaks Capital.
-
Accel
21 May 2024
led $1 billion Series F at a $13.8 billion valuation
Primary record
123637
Round total, not Accel’s share; a mix of primary and secondary funding.
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Meta Platforms
21 May 2024
new investor in the $1 billion Series F
Primary record
1238
Amazon, Cisco Investments, Intel Capital and others also joined as new investors.
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Meta Platforms
12 Jun 2025
non-voting minority investment, $14.3B
Primary record
123451117394041
Amount as reported by CNBC (citing a Scale AI spokesperson) and AP; Scale's release gives no figure, only a valuation of over $29 billion. Meta's FY2025 10-K carries its minority investments in Scale AI at $13.80 billion.
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Greg Brockman
Primary record
19
Index Ventures' 2018 release lists him among individual investors to that date and writes 'OpenAPI co-founder' (sic); the round, date and amount are not stated.
stakeholders
-
Alexandr Wang
15%, as of 11 Apr 2023
Scholarship & press
7
Forbes's figure, valued from secondary-market prices.
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Lucy Guo
5.99%, as of 11 Jul 2023
Scholarship & press
89
Figure from a screenshot Fortune reviewed in 2023 and repeated in December 2024.
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Meta Platforms
49%, as of 12 Jun 2025
Primary record
123456
A press-reported figure; a Scale spokesperson said Meta has no voting power.
headquartered in
- San Francisco Primary record 10171935
Timeline 20 dates
- 2016 – Scale AI
- 2016 Alexandr Wang founded Scale AI
- 2016 Lucy Guo founded Scale AI
- 2016–2018 Lucy Guo worked at Scale AI
- 2016 Y Combinator invested in Scale AI
- May 2017 Accel invested in Scale AI
- Aug 2018 Index Ventures invested in Scale AI
- 5 Aug 2019 Adam D'Angelo invested in Scale AI
- 5 Aug 2019 Founders Fund invested in Scale AI
- 1 Dec 2020 Tiger Global Management invested in Scale AI
- 13 Apr 2021 Dragoneer Investment Group invested in Scale AI
- 13 Apr 2021 Greenoaks Capital invested in Scale AI
- 13 Apr 2021 Tiger Global Management invested in Scale AI
- 21 May 2024 Accel invested in Scale AI
- 21 May 2024 Meta Platforms invested in Scale AI
- until 12 Jun 2025 Alexandr Wang CEO of Scale AI
- 12 Jun 2025 – 10 Aug 2026 Jason Droege CEO of Scale AI
- 12 Jun 2025 Meta Platforms invested in Scale AI
- 30 Jul 2026 – Alexandr Wang chair of Scale AI
- 10 Aug 2026 – Francis deSouza CEO of Scale AI
Proof 41 sources
-
Scale AI's Alexandr Wang confirms departure for Meta as part of $14.3 billion deal, CNBC, 12 Jun 2025.
Scholarship & press
Meta is pumping $14.3 billion into Scale AI as part of the deal, and will have a 49% stake in the artificial intelligence startup, but will not have any voting power, a Scale AI spokesperson said.
In this instance, that cost is my departure. It has been the absolute greatest pleasure of my life to serve as your CEO.
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Meta ramps up AI efforts by paying $14.3 billion for 49% of Scale, Fortune (Associated Press), 13 Jun 2025.
Scholarship & press
Meta will hold a 49% stake in the startup.
Meta is making a $14.3 billion investment in artificial intelligence company Scale and recruiting its CEO Alexandr Wang to join a team developing “superintelligence” at the tech giant.
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Scale AI Announces Next Phase of Company’s Evolution, Scale AI, 12 Jun 2025.
Primary record
Following its investment, Meta will hold a minority of Scale’s outstanding equity.
Scale’s Board of Directors has appointed Chief Strategy Officer, Jason Droege, to serve as the Company’s Interim Chief Executive Officer.
Scale AI, Inc. (“Scale” or the “Company”), the humanity-first AI company, today announced a significant new investment from Meta Platforms, Inc. (Nasdaq: META) that values Scale at over $29 billion.
today announced a significant new investment from Meta Platforms, Inc. (Nasdaq: META) that values Scale at over $29 billion.
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Meta Platforms, Inc. Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended June 30, 2025, Meta Platforms, 31 Jul 2025.
Primary record
In June 2025, we completed an investment in Scale AI by acquiring a non-voting minority of its outstanding equity.
Out of the total consideration, $13.79 billion was included in non-marketable equity investments accounted for under the measurement alternative method
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Meta Platforms, Inc. Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, Meta Platforms, 29 Jan 2026.
Primary record
mostly consist of our minority investments in Scale AI for $13.80 billion, which was closed during 2025
our minority investments in Scale AI for $13.80 billion, which was closed during 2025
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Scale AI's life after Meta deal has been rocky, but CFO insists it's not a 'zombie company', CNBC, 4 Nov 2025.
Scholarship & press
With its investment, Meta has a 49% stake in a company valued on paper at $29 billion. But Meta has no voting power, a Scale spokesperson told CNBC in June
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How Alexandr Wang Turned An Army Of Clickworkers Into A $7.3 Billion AI Unicorn, Forbes, 11 Apr 2023.
Scholarship & press
Those markets now value his 15% stake at $630 million. Scale argues it’s worth closer to $890 million.
Guo subsequently left the company “due to differences in product vision and road map,” she says.
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How I made my first million: Scale AI co-founder Lucy Guo, Fortune, 11 Jul 2023.
Scholarship & press
Fortune reviewed a screenshot showing Guo’s 5.99% ownership in Scale AI, which she said comprised the lion’s share of her net worth.
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Multimillionaire Lucy Guo’s only regret: Investing in ‘every startup that’s gone to zero’, Fortune, 17 Dec 2024.
Scholarship & press
Guo departed Scale in 2018, but retains 5.99% ownership, which amounts to nearly 47 million Class A shares.
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About Us | Reliable AI for Critical Decisions | Scale AI, Scale AI.
Primary record
Founded 2016
Headquarters: San Francisco, CA
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The inside story of Scale AI cofounder Alexandr Wang’s rise and the $14 billion Meta deal, Fortune, 22 Jun 2025.
Scholarship & press
since cofounding Scale AI in 2016 with Lucy Guo
Lucy Guo cofounded Scale AI with Alexandr Wang, but left in 2018.
Guo had recruited Wang, and she was the original CEO.
the eventual arrangement of Meta investing $14.3 billion for 49% of Scale in nonvoting shares with potential future conversion
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Scale’s Series F: Expanding the Data Foundry for AI, Scale AI, 21 May 2024.
Primary record
I founded Scale to supply the data pillar that advances AI by fueling its entire development lifecycle.
Scale has closed a $1B financing transaction at a $13.8B valuation. The financing, a mix of primary and secondary, is led by existing investor Accel
We also are excited to welcome new investors: Cisco Investments, DFJ Growth, Intel Capital, ServiceNow Ventures, AMD Ventures, WCM, Amazon, Elad Gil, Meta, and Qualcomm Ventures.
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How Alexandr Wang turned an army of clickworkers into a $7.3 billion AI unicorn, Forbes (Australian edition; story by Kenrick Cai, Forbes Staff), 12 Apr 2023.
Scholarship & press
There he teamed up with Quora alum Lucy Guo, another dropout, to start Scale in 2016.
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Scale, whose army of humans annotate raw data to train self-driving and other AI systems, nabs $18M, TechCrunch, 7 Aug 2018.
Scholarship & press
CEO Alexandr Wang, the 21-year-old MIT grad who co-founded Scale with Lucy Guo
who co-founded Scale with Lucy Guo
This latest funding round was led by Index, with existing investors Accel and Y Combinator (where Scale was incubated), also participated in this Series B
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Inside billionaire Lucy Guo’s intense daily routine: 5:30 a.m. wake-ups, double gym sessions, and no lunch breaks, CNBC, 23 Aug 2025.
Scholarship & press
Guo co-founded Scale AI, an AI data labeling company, alongside Alexander Wang in 2016.
Guo, who headed up the operations and product design teams at the Silicon Valley startup, left the company in 2018. "We had disagreements around products and sales," Guo explained.
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Scale: API For Human Intelligence, Scale AI.
Primary record
Lucy Guo COO and Co-founder
Alexandr Wang CEO and Co-founder
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Scale AI Announces Next Phase of Company’s Evolution, Scale AI, 12 Jun 2025.
Primary record
Founder and CEO, Alexandr Wang, Joins Meta to Work on Meta’s AI Efforts
Scale’s Board of Directors has appointed Chief Strategy Officer, Jason Droege, to serve as the Company’s Interim Chief Executive Officer.
today announced a significant new investment from Meta Platforms, Inc. (Nasdaq: META) that values Scale at over $29 billion.
Scale was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in San Francisco.
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Expedia Group, Inc. 2026 Proxy Statement (Schedule 14A), Expedia Group, 29 Apr 2026.
Primary record
Chief Executive Officer, Scale AI (2016 through June 2025)
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Scale Announces $18 Million in Series B Funding Led by Index Ventures, Index Ventures, 7 Aug 2018.
Primary record
said Wang, CEO and founder at Scale.
including a $4.5 million Series A in May 2017 led by Accel and Y Combinator.
Scale today announced that it has raised $18 million in Series B funding, led by Index Ventures with participation from existing investors Accel and Y Combinator.
Individual investors included OpenAPI co-founder Greg Brockman, Quora co-founder Charlie Cheever, Jonathan Swanson, co-founder of Thumbtack, Xamarin co-founder Nat Friedman, ZEIT founder Guillermo Rauch and Parse co-founder Ilya Sukhar.
The company is headquartered in San Francisco
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This AI founder has unseated Taylor Swift as the world’s youngest self-made woman billionaire, Forbes Australia, 17 Apr 2025.
Scholarship & press
Wang became CEO and Guo ran the operations and product design teams at the San Francisco startup.
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Alexandr Wang on AI’s Potential and Its ‘Deficiencies’, TIME, 22 Jun 2025.
Scholarship & press
On June 12, Alexandr Wang stepped down as Scale’s CEO to chase his most ambitious moonshot yet
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A Message from Scale’s Interim CEO, Jason Droege, Scale AI, 18 Jun 2025.
Primary record
It is an honor to step into the role of interim CEO at Scale during such a pivotal moment for our company and the broader AI landscape.
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Scale AI Appoints Francis deSouza as CEO to Lead Next Phase of Company’s Growth, Scale AI, 30 Jul 2026.
Primary record
Jason Droege, who has led the company as interim CEO since June 2025, will work closely with Francis over the coming months to help with the transition.
Scale AI today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Francis deSouza as Chief Executive Officer, effective August 10, 2026.
"There is no better person to lead Scale through this critical moment in AI than Francis," said Alexandr Wang, Scale AI Founder and Chairman of the Board.
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Scale AI: Data-centric infrastructure to accelerate the development of AI | Y Combinator, Y Combinator.
Primary record
Summer 2016
Batch: Summer 2016
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How The 22-Year-Old Founder Of Scale AI Built A Billion-Dollar Business, Forbes, 22 Dec 2019.
Scholarship & press
drop out of MIT, and start Scale AI after accepting an initial investment from YCombinator
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Announcing Our Series A With Accel, Scale AI, 16 Jul 2017.
Primary record
We are excited to announce that we have raised a $4.5 million Series A round of funding led by Accel. Along with this funding, Accel’s Daniel Levine has joined Scale’s board.
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The Next Step of AI: Our Continued Investment in Scale, Accel, 9 Aug 2018.
Primary record
Since the Series A announced in May 2017, Scale has made a ton of progress.
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Announcing Our Series B with Index Ventures and Accel, Scale AI, 8 Aug 2018.
Primary record
Scale raised $18M in Series B funding led by Index Ventures with Accel, Y Combinator, Drew Houston, and Justin Kan joining. Mike Volpi of Index Ventures will be joining our board.
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Scale AI’s Series C: Building the data platform to accelerate machine learning, Scale AI, 5 Aug 2019.
Primary record
Scale has raised $100m at a valuation of over $1B. Founders Fund led the round, supported by Accel, Coatue Management, Index Ventures, Spark Capital, Thrive Capital, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger and Adam d’Angelo.
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Scale AI and its 22-year-old CEO lock down $100 million to label Silicon Valley's data, TechCrunch, 5 Aug 2019.
Scholarship & press
Instagram founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger and Quora CEO Adam d’Angelo.
announced Monday that it had closed a $100 million Series C round of financing led by Founders Fund with participation from Accel, Coatue Management, Index Ventures, Spark Capital, Thrive Capital
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Scaling Scale: Riding the Artificial Intelligence Wave, Index Ventures, 5 Aug 2019.
Primary record
Today, we celebrate their $100M financing round led by Founders Fund and participation from Thrive and Spark.
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Scale AI’s Series D: Expanding our Team to Empower AI Dreamers, Scale AI, 1 Dec 2020.
Primary record
First, we are officially announcing Scale’s Series D funding round. Following our Series C fundraise last year, Scale has raised $155M at a post-money valuation north of $3.5B led by Tiger Global.
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Scale AI hits $3.5B valuation as it turns the AI boom into a venture bonanza, TechCrunch, 1 Dec 2020.
Scholarship & press
The funding round, led by Tiger Global, pushes Scale’s post-money valuation to more than $3.5 billion.
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Scale AI’s Series E: Deploying AI Across Every Industry, Scale AI, 13 Apr 2021.
Primary record
Scale has raised $325 million in Series E funding, co-led by Dragoneer, Greenoaks Capital, and Tiger Global.
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Data-labeling company Scale AI valued at $7.3 billion after new venture capital investment, Fortune, 13 Apr 2021.
Scholarship & press
The latest investment round was led by Dragoneer and Greenoaks Capital, both San Francisco-based investment firms, and Tiger Global
Scale AI, a San Francisco-based startup that specializes in helping companies label and curate data for artificial intelligence applications, has been valued at $7.3 billion in its latest funding round, announced Tuesday.
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Our Continued Partnership with Scale, Accel, 21 May 2024.
Primary record
Today, Scale announced that Accel led its Series F, with coverage in Bloomberg and The Financial Times, and others.
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Amazon, Meta back Scale AI in $1 billion funding deal that values firm at $14 billion, CNBC, 21 May 2024.
Scholarship & press
Scale AI has raised $1 billion in a Series F funding round that values the enterprise tech company at $13.8 billion — almost double its last reported valuation.
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Data-labeling startup Scale AI raises $1B as valuation doubles to $13.8B, TechCrunch, 21 May 2024.
Scholarship & press
has raised a $1 billion Series F round from big-name institutional and corporate investors that include Amazon and Meta.
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Scale AI confirms 'significant' investment from Meta, says CEO Alexandr Wang is leaving, TechCrunch, 13 Jun 2025.
Scholarship & press
Reports indicate that Meta invested about $14.3 billion for a 49% stake in the startup
Meta has finalized our strategic partnership and investment in Scale AI.
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Meta Taps Scale’s `AI Whisperer’ Wang to Speed AI Turnaround, Bloomberg News (via Bloomberg Tax), 16 Jun 2025.
Scholarship & press
a $14.3 billion investment from Meta in Scale, and a new job for himself in Meta’s “superintelligence” group, reporting to CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
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Mark Zuckerberg announces creation of Meta Superintelligence Labs. Read the memo, CNBC (via NBC New York), 30 Jun 2025.
Scholarship & press
Earlier in June, the company said it would hire Wang, now Meta's chief AI officer, and some of his colleagues as part of a $14.3 billion investment into Scale AI.
Page history 1 change
- Add Alexandr Wang and Scale AI4938021
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