Company · Data & infrastructure
Scale AI revenue, valuation & funding
Scale AI was valued at $29B when Meta bought a 49% stake in June 2025, and Sacra estimates its 2025 revenue at $2B. It's a private company with no announced IPO plan.
At a glance
- Valuation: $29B at Meta's investment in June 2025, its last confirmed valuation.
- Revenue: $2B in 2025, as estimated by Sacra. Scale publishes no audited results.
- Status: private. No stock ticker and no announced IPO plan.
- Founded: 2016, by Alexandr Wang and Lucy Guo, through Y Combinator.
- CEO: Francis deSouza, since August 10, 2026.
- Investors: Meta (a 49% non-voting stake), Accel, Dragoneer, Greenoaks Capital, Tiger Global and Amazon, among others.
- Products: training data and evaluation for AI models, RL Environments for agents, Nucleus and the Scale Labs research hub.
- Headquarters: San Francisco, California.
Is Scale AI public? Can you buy its stock?
No. Scale AI's shares don't trade on any stock exchange, and it has no ticker symbol.
Its executives haven't announced plans to go public, and no IPO filing has been reported. In March 2025 Business Insider reported that Scale was seeking a valuation as high as $25B in a possible tender offer (Reuters, via Business Reporter). Terms were still being discussed.
In June 2025 Meta bought a 49% non-voting stake, and Scale said it would pay the proceeds to shareholders and vested equity holders. The other shares are held by its founders, staff and investors. This page reports facts and gives no investment advice.
Valuation, round by round
Its valuation went from $13.8B in May 2024 to $29B in June 2025, more than doubling in about a year.
| Date | Valued at | Raised | Led by | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 2025 | $29B | $14.3B | Meta | TechCrunch |
| Mar 2025 | $25B | In talks | — | Business Reporter (Reuters) |
| May 2024 | $13.8B | $1B | Accel | Scale AI's blog |
| Apr 2021 | — | $325M | Dragoneer, Greenoaks Capital, and Tiger Global | Scale AI's blog |
The $25B tender offer reported in March 2025 was still in talks, and no close was reported. The April 2021 Series E valuation hasn't been confirmed, and no round has been reported since June 2025.
How Scale AI makes money
Scale is paid to produce and check the data AI companies use to train and test their models. Sacra says it charges per task and marks up the cost of the labor. Sacra estimates this gives it a gross margin of 50% or more.
Sacra reports that interim CEO Jason Droege said the applications business alone was generating $200M to $300M by September 2025. In January 2026 Droege wrote that the business "is now profitable" (Scale AI's blog).
- Pay as you go. A self-serve plan priced per data unit labeled, with no minimum commitment, per Sacra. Sacra
- Enterprise plans. Annual volume commitments with volume discounts, per Sacra. Sacra
- Government contracts. Sacra says a five-year $100M agreement with the Defense Department's CDAO was expanded to a $500M total potential value. Sacra
Products
- Training data and evaluation. Its original business, labeling and checking the data used to train and test AI models.
- Nucleus (2020). A data-management product that Sacra likens to "Google Photos for training data." Sacra
- Robotics data (September 2025). Contractors record point-of-view demonstrations for startups training AI-powered robots. Sacra
- RL Environments (February 2026, per Sacra). Simulated tool-use and computer-use workflows to train and evaluate agents. Sacra
- Scale Labs (March 9, 2026). A research hub that grew out of its SEAL lab, covering evaluation, agentic and multimodal systems, and post-training. Scale AI blog
- ICG Solutions. A defense-tech company Scale bought, whose LUX product does real-time streaming data analytics. It runs as a wholly owned subsidiary. Sacra
Customers
Scale's homepage says 90% of the world's leading generative AI model builders are powered by Scale. It also sells to large companies and to governments.
- BP and Mayo Clinic were named as new enterprise customers in Scale's July 2026 announcement, along with expanded work for U.S. and international governments. Scale AI blog
- U.S. Department of Energy. Scale signed a memorandum of understanding in May 2026 to support the Genesis Mission. Sacra
- U.S. Department of Defense. Sacra describes a $500M Pentagon contract to process data and aid military decision-making. Sacra
Leadership
Scale's board named Francis deSouza CEO on July 30, 2026, effective August 10 (Scale AI's blog). Founder Alexandr Wang chairs the board.
Wikipedia lists 1,200 employees in 2025. Scale laid off 20% of its workforce in January 2023. In July 2025 it cut 200 employees, about 14% of staff.
- Francis deSouza, CEO since August 10, 2026. He was CEO of Illumina and then ran Google Cloud's security products. Scale AI's blog
- Jason Droege, interim CEO from June 2025, who stayed on to help with the transition. Scale AI blog
- Alexandr Wang, founder and chairman of the board. He left the CEO job for Meta in June 2025. TechCrunch
Who owns Scale AI?
Meta holds 49% of Scale AI, bought for about $14.3B in June 2025, according to TechCrunch. The stake is non-voting. Founders, staff and investors hold the rest, and their stakes haven't been disclosed.
- Meta holds a 49% non-voting stake, bought in June 2025 for about $14.3B. TechCrunch
- Accel led the $1B Series F in May 2024. Scale AI's blog
- Dragoneer, Greenoaks Capital and Tiger Global co-led the $325M Series E in April 2021. Scale AI's blog
- Amazon, Cisco Investments, Intel Capital, AMD Ventures and Qualcomm Ventures joined as new investors in May 2024, along with Meta, Elad Gil and others. Scale AI's blog
Competitors
Sacra names older data-labeling firms as Scale's rivals. Some relied on large pools of contractors and others on employees.
Timeline and latest news
From its founding to the latest reports, newest first.
- Jul 30, 2026Latest
The board appointed Francis deSouza CEO, effective August 10, 2026. Scale AI's blog - May 2026Latest
Signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Department of Energy for the Genesis Mission. Sacra - Mar 9, 2026Latest
Launched Scale Labs, a research hub built on its SEAL lab. Scale AI blog - Jan 22, 2026
Interim CEO Jason Droege wrote that the business is now profitable. Scale AI's blog - Sep 2025
Started a robotics data program, recording demonstrations for robot startups. Sacra - Jul 16, 2025
Laid off 200 employees, about 14% of staff, and cut ties with 500 contractors. TechCrunch - Jun 13, 2025
Meta invested at a $29B valuation, and CEO Alexandr Wang left for Meta. TechCrunch - May 9, 2025
The Department of Labor dropped its investigation into Scale. TechCrunch - Mar 2025
Business Insider reported Scale was seeking up to $25B in a possible tender offer. Business Reporter (Reuters) - Jan 2025
Several contractors sued over exposure to disturbing content. Wikipedia - May 21, 2024
Raised $1B at a $13.8B valuation, led by Accel. Scale AI's blog - Apr 13, 2021
Raised a $325M Series E, co-led by Dragoneer, Greenoaks Capital and Tiger Global. Scale AI's blog
Legal matters
- Department of Labor. It dropped its Fair Labor Standards Act investigation into Scale, as TechCrunch reported in May 2025. TechCrunch
- Contractor lawsuit (January 2025). Several contractors sued, alleging psychological harm from exposure to disturbing content. Wikipedia
In their own words, and what followed
What people said about the business, with the minute they said it, and what was reported after.
Chamath Palihapitiya on All-In · Jul 11, 2025
“to buy 49% of scale AI. That's exactly a bet on human knowledge.”
21:03 Compute-first learning is overtaking human-engineered AI
Reported after
Five days later Scale laid off 200 employees, about 14% of its staff, and cut ties with 500 contractors. TechCrunch
What others say about Scale AI
Moments where people outside the company talk about it.
Alexandr Wang · Founders · Oct 11, 2026
“This has got to be more fun than Scale AI”
25:59 How memes and unhinged posting helped Muse break through 5 min
Saurav Shroff · Relentless · Oct 28, 2026
“Scale AI data sets because superintelligence is valuable.”
8:56 AI data satellites need cheaper launch and much greater scale 6 min
Questions people ask
Is Scale AI a public company? Can I buy Scale AI stock?
No. Scale AI's shares don't trade on any exchange, and it has no ticker. Meta owns 49% through a non-voting stake.
When will Scale AI IPO?
Scale hasn't announced plans to go public, and no IPO filing has been reported.
Who owns Scale AI?
Meta holds a 49% non-voting stake, bought for about $14.3B in June 2025 (TechCrunch). Founders, staff and investors such as Accel hold the rest.
Who is the CEO of Scale AI?
Francis deSouza, since August 10, 2026. He followed interim CEO Jason Droege.
Who founded Scale AI?
Alexandr Wang and Lucy Guo, in 2016 through Y Combinator. Wang now chairs the board.
How much is Scale AI worth?
$29B at Meta's investment in June 2025, its last confirmed valuation (TechCrunch).
How much revenue does Scale AI make?
Sacra estimates $2B in 2025, up from $870M in 2024. Scale doesn't publish results.
Is Scale AI profitable?
Interim CEO Jason Droege wrote in January 2026 that the business "is now profitable" (Scale AI's blog). It publishes no audited results.
How does Scale AI make money?
It charges per task for training data and evaluation work, with self-serve and enterprise plans, per Sacra. It also sells to governments.
Where is Scale AI headquartered?
San Francisco, California.
People on Real Alpha
- Francis deSouza, CEO, Scale AI
Other companies in Data & infrastructure
Surge AI · Mercor · Databricks · Hugging Face · Modal · River AI · DatologyAI · Together AI · Fireworks AI · Baseten · LangChain · Turing
How this page is sourced
Each figure links to the filing, company statement or news report it came from, with its date. Run rates are what reporters were told, not audited results; estimates and unconfirmed reports are marked. Quotes are what each person said on the record, with the minute they said it. Spotted something that's off? .
Last checked Nov 7, 2026