SF AI startup Scale cuts 14% of staff after Meta buyout

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — A San Francisco artificial intelligence startup that was recently invested in by Meta just laid off 14% of its staff, according to multiple reports. Scale AI, which received a $14.3 billion investment from the Facebook parent company last month, will be cutting 200 full-time employees and 500 contractors, according to a report in Bloomberg.

The blockbuster deal that saw Meta take a majority interest in Scale AI also saw the social media company hire away Scale’s former CEO, Alexandr Wang.

Scale AI is an artificial intelligence company that labels data used in training AI models. The layoffs, according to the company’s Interim CEO Jason Droege, reflect “shifts in market demand” and bringing in too many people too quickly in the past year.

Wang, who in addition to being the CEO of Scale, was also a co-founder, will reportedly be leading Meta’s new superintelligence AI unit. Meta has been aggressively headhunting top AI talent recently, even reportedly offering $100 million signing bonuses to try and lure people from AI rivals like OpenAI.