Scale AI Secures $1 Billion Funding, Valuing the Startup at $14 Billion

Written by Nivas Chennamsetti

Scale AI, a leading company in the artificial intelligence sector, has secured $1 billion in a Series F funding round, which values the company at $13.8 billion, nearly doubling its previous valuation. The San Francisco-based enterprise tech firm, recognized as a top innovator, has now accumulated $1.6 billion in total funding.

The latest investment round is led by Accel and includes contributions from new investors such as Cisco Investments, DFJ Growth, Intel Capital, ServiceNow Ventures, AMD Ventures, WCM, Amazon, Elad Gil (co-founder of Color Genomics and serial tech investor), and Meta. Existing investors like Y Combinator, Nat Friedman, Index Ventures, Founders Fund, Coatue, Thrive Capital, Spark Capital, Nvidia, Tiger Global Management, Greenoaks, and Wellington Management also participated in this round.

Scale AI has become integral to the advancement of generative artificial intelligence and large language models. The company’s primary function involves accurately labeling data—be it text, images, video, or voice recordings—so that it can be effectively utilized by AI technologies. Initially focused on data labeling for autonomous driving models, Scale AI now helps organizations across various sectors enhance and refine their AI data, powering some of the most advanced AI models in use today.

“Our mission is to build the data foundry for AI, and with the latest funding, we’re advancing to the next phase—accelerating the creation of frontier data essential for our journey towards AGI (Artificial General Intelligence),” said Alexandr Wang, founder and CEO, in a statement.

Scale AI is also increasing its collaboration with the public sector. The company received a contract from the Department of Defense’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office. This contract aims to enhance AI capabilities across the U.S. military, involving projects for the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard.

Scale AI launched Donovan, an AI-powered decision-making platform. Donovan is notable for being the first large language model deployed on a classified U.S. government network.

During an AI Insight Forum in Washington, D.C., Wang emphasized Scale AI’s role in supporting the U.S. and its allies. “The global race for AI leadership is in full swing, and our nation’s capacity to adopt and implement AI will shape the future of warfare,” he remarked. “I am confident that the United States can lead the world in AI adoption to bolster national security. The pace of development is relentless, and we must meet the challenge head-on.”

Conclusion:

Looking to expand its global footprint, Scale AI plans to establish a European headquarters in London. This new office aims to support and collaborate with the U.K. government on its AI initiatives.