Jump to content

Scale AI

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Scale AI, Inc.
Company typePrivately held company
IndustryInformation technology
Founded2016; 9 years ago (2016)
FoundersAlexandr Wang
Lucy Guo
HeadquartersSan Francisco, California, U.S.
Key people
Alexandr Wang (CEO)
Number of employees
600 (2024)
SubsidiariesRemotasks, Outlier.ai
Websitescale.com Edit this at Wikidata

Scale AI, Inc. is an American artificial intelligence company based in San Francisco, California. It provides data labeling and model evaluation services to develop applications for artificial intelligence.

History

[edit]

Scale was founded in 2016 by Alexandr Wang and Lucy Guo. The pair previously worked together at Quora.[1] Initial investors of Scale included Dragoneer Investment Group, Tiger Global Management and Index Ventures.[2][3][4] In 2018, co-founder Guo left Scale "due to differences in product vision and road map".[2]

In August 2019, after Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund made a $100 million investment in Scale, its valuation exceeded $1 billion and it acquired Unicorn status.[2][3]

Scale contracted with the United States Department of Defense in 2020.[5]

By July 2021, Scale had reached a valuation of $7 billion, after a financing led by Greenoaks, Dragoneer Investment Group and Tiger Global Management.[6] There was an increased demand for data labelling from clients in different industries.[4]

In February 2022, Scale AI developed its Automated Damage Identification Service in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Satellite imagery was analyzed, measuring the damage to buildings, which were then geotagged and reported to humanitarian groups.[7]

In January 2023, Scale laid off 20% of its workforce.[8]

In May 2023, Scale AI signed a deal with the Army’s XVIII Airborne Corps, becoming the first AI company to deploy its large language model (known as Donovan) on a classified network.[1]

In December 2023, Scale AI was among a list of companies that contributed to Meta Platforms’s Purple Llama initiative, a security framework for the purpose of development of open generative AI models.[9]

In March 2024, Scale reached a valuation of almost $13 billion after Accel led another round of funding.[10] In May 2024, Scale raised an additional $1 billion with new investors including Amazon and Meta Platforms. Its valuation reached $14 billion.[11]

In December 2024, Scale was sued by a former employee with allegations that it was committing wage theft and misclassifying workers.[12] The following month, a second employee filed suit against the company citing similar claims.[13] In January 2025, several contractors sued Scale alleging psychological harm from being exposed to toxic material, such as content related to violence and child abuse.[14]

In January 2025, it was reported in The Conversation that Scale AI and Meta had previously teamed up to create and sell Defense Llama, a large-language model product with military-style defense purposes.[15] Later in the month, Scale AI and the Center for AI Safety partnered to release Humanity's Last Exam, a benchmark test for AI systems.[16] The company has also assisted in the development of the benchmarks EnigmaEval, MultiChallenge, and MASK.[17]

In February 2025, Scale AI agreed to a five-year partnership with the Qatari government to improve government services via AI-based tools and training, including predictive analytics, automation, and advanced data analytics.[18] The deal was signed at the Web Qatar 2025 Summit by Mohammed bin Ali bin Mohammed Al Mannai, the Qatari Minister of Communications and Information Technology.[19] Also in February, the company became a third-party evaluator of AI models for the U.S. AI Safety Institute.[20]

In March 2025, Scale AI reached a deal with the United States Department of Defense to develop the Thunderforge project. The project aims to use AI to “plan and help execute movements of ships, planes, and other assets”, with the goal of speeding up military decisions in both peace and wartime. The contract was awarded to Scale AI and other companies (such as Anduril Industries and Microsoft) by the Defense Innovation Unit, and is intended to first be used with the USINDOPACOM and EUCOM.[21]

In April 2025, Scale AI released Scale Evaluation, a platform used to test large language models against benchmarks to pinpoint weaknesses and flag where additional training data would improve the model.[17]

Remotasks

[edit]

In 2017, Scale established Remotasks, an in-house outsourcing agency with facilities in Southeast Asia and Africa to train data labelers. Remotasks has been established as a separate brand for client confidentiality according to Scale. The operation was accused of low pay, failing to meet "minimum standards of fair work" and that the "obfuscation" of its association with Scale creates confusion that "can contribute to workers’ vulnerability to exploitation."[2][22]

In March 2024, it was reported that Remotasks had terminated its services in whole countries without explanation. Workers in Kenya, Nigeria, and Pakistan found themselves cut off from accessing its services. Remotasks has also halted new sign-ups in Thailand, Vietnam, and Poland. A Remotasks representative claimed an administrative error was to blame for the lack of notice provided to contractors in Kenya.[23]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b De Vynck, Gerrit (October 22, 2023). "Some tech leaders fear AI. ScaleAI is selling it to the military". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 12, 2024. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d Cai, Kenrick (April 11, 2023). "How Alexandr Wang Turned An Army Of Clickworkers Into A $7.3 Billion AI Unicorn". Forbes. Archived from the original on April 6, 2024. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Vance, Ashlee (August 5, 2019). "Silicon Valley's Latest Unicorn Is Run by a 22-Year-Old". Bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on May 25, 2023. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  4. ^ a b Loten, Angus (July 12, 2021). "Scale AI's Rapid Growth Reflects Widening Demand for Smart Software". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on February 26, 2024. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  5. ^ Jeans, David (February 2, 2024). "Scale AI Quietly Scrapped Deal With Chinese-Owned TikTok Over Security Concerns". Forbes. Retrieved April 19, 2025.
  6. ^ "Scale AI's Series E: Deploying AI Across Every Industry". scale.com. Retrieved February 27, 2025.
  7. ^ Ufberg, Max (May 2, 2023). "This tool is helping Ukraine automatically detect when its buildings get damaged". Fast Company.
  8. ^ Chatterjee, Poulomi (January 16, 2023). "Scale AI was Scaling Till Clienteles Refused to Buy it Anymore". Analytics India Magazine. Archived from the original on April 19, 2024. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  9. ^ Columbus, Louis (December 11, 2023). "Meta champions a new era in safe gen AI with Purple Llama". VentureBeat.
  10. ^ Clark, Kate (March 28, 2024). "Scale AI Nears $13 Billion Valuation in Accel-Led Round". The Information.
  11. ^ León, Riley de (May 21, 2024). "Amazon, Meta back Scale AI in $1 billion funding deal that values firm at $14 billion". CNBC. Archived from the original on May 23, 2024. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
  12. ^ Council, Stephen (December 13, 2024). "SF tech startup Scale AI, worth $13.8B, accused of widespread wage theft". SFGATE.
  13. ^ Rollet, Charles (January 9, 2025). "Exclusive: Scale AI hit by its second wage theft lawsuit in less than a month". TechCrunch. Retrieved January 11, 2025.
  14. ^ Rollet, Charles (January 22, 2025). "Scale AI is facing a third worker lawsuit in about a month". TechCrunch. Retrieved January 24, 2025.
  15. ^ Schwarz, Elke (January 16, 2025). "The Silicon Valley venture capitalists who want to 'move fast and break things' in the defence industry". The Conversation.
  16. ^ Tremayne-Pengelly, Alexandra (January 25, 2025). "Scale AI's 28-Year-Old Billionaire CEO Warns About This Scarily Good Chinese Startup". Observer.
  17. ^ a b Knight, Will (April 2, 2025). "This Tool Probes Frontier AI Models for Lapses in Intelligence". Wired.
  18. ^ Mills, Andrew (February 24, 2025). "Qatar signs deal with Scale AI to use AI to boost government services". Reuters.
  19. ^ Noureldin, Ola (February 23, 2025). "Qatar Partners With Scale AI To Enhance Government Services With AI-Powered Tools". Forbes Middle East.
  20. ^ Alder, Madison (February 10, 2025). "US AI Safety Institute taps Scale AI for model evaluation". FedScoop.
  21. ^ De Vynck, Gerrit (March 5, 2025). "Pentagon signs AI deal to help commanders plan military maneuvers". The Washington Post.
  22. ^ Tan, Rebecca (August 28, 2023). "Behind the AI boom, an army of overseas workers in 'digital sweatshops'". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on May 24, 2024. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  23. ^ Branndom, Russell (March 28, 2024). "Scale AI's Remotasks platform is dropping whole countries without explanation". Rest of World. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Scale_AI&oldid=1291433158"