Meta’s huge investment in AI scale could stop some startup customers.
Reuters reported that Google plans to pay $200 million this year, but is now in conversation with competitors and plans to cut contacts. Microsoft also reportedly hopes to back down, with Openai reportedly making a similar decision a few months ago, although its chief financial officer said the company will continue to work with Scable as one of many suppliers.
Scale’s customers include self-driving car companies and the U.S. government, but Reuters said its largest customers are generated AI companies seeking access to workers with expertise that can annotate data to train models.
Google declined to comment on the report. A scale spokesperson declined to comment on the company’s relationship with Google, but told TechCrunch that Scale’s business remains strong and that it will continue to be an independent company that protects its customer data.
Earlier reports suggest Meta invested $14.3 billion to acquire a 49% stake in the company, while scale CEO Alexandr Wang joined Meta to lead the company’s efforts to develop “super smart.”
