Meta just made a $14.3 billion bet on data-labeling company Scale AI, but it’s not a traditional takeover: Meta’s taking a 49% stake in the company and adding Scale’s co-founder Alexandr Wang to its team.
The move signals Meta’s growing urgency to keep up in the AI race, even if its strategy for competing with heavyweights like OpenAI and Google is still a little confusing.
Today, on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Max Zeff, and Anthony Ha break down the deal, dig up an interview from Kirsten’s archives featuring Wang’s early predictions for AI, and ask whether Meta’s really buying a game-changer or just adding a well-connected dealmaker to its roster at a time when its own AI ambitions are falling further and further behind.
Listen to the full episode to hear more highlights from the week, including:
- How Chime’s IPO priced above expectations at $27 per share and jumped in early trading, and Anthony’s not-so-hot takes on what this signals for the tech IPO market
- Why Y Combinator’s Demo Day was packed with “agentic” AI startups building autonomous software, and how a recent chat with Fiverr’s CEO sheds light on AI-driven task automation in the gig economy
- How Jony Ive’s LoveFrom spent 18 months quietly collaborating with Rivian on their first electric bike, a spinout product confirmed to have a bike-like form factor
Equity will be back next week, so stay tuned!
Equity is TechCrunch’s flagship podcast, produced by Theresa Loconsolo, and posts every Wednesday and Friday.
Subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.
