Meta is making its first major minority investment in an outside company as it tries to catch up to a growing field of artificial intelligence rivals.

Meta has invested $14.3 billion in Scale AI, acquiring a 49% non-voting stake in the company. The transaction values the data infrastructure startup at

Meta invests $14.3B in Scale AI to fuel a new superintelligence lab—gaining infrastructure and leadership, but raising doubts about Scale’s future.

As per the reports, Meta’s significant external AI investment in Scale AI is noted as the company’s largest to date. This move is unusual for the Mark Zuckerberg-led company, which typically relies on internal research and a more open development approach to advance its AI capabilities.

Meanwhile, Apple seems to be fast-tracking its own smart glasses project. Bloomberg recently reported that Apple has accelerated its own plans for AI-powered smart glasses, now targeting a launch by the end of 2026.

Alexandr Wang dropped out of MIT to co-found Scale and was quickly lauded as one of Silicon Valley's most promising entrepreneurs, raising funding from blue-chip venture capital firms and achieving billionaire status in his 20s.