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Scale AI
American data annotation company From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Scale AI, Inc. is an American data annotation company in San Francisco, California. It provides labeled data used to train AI applications.
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Scale was founded in 2016 by Alexandr Wang and Lucy Guo. The pair previously worked together at Quora.[1] Initial investors of Scale included Dragoneer Investment Group, Tiger Global Management and Index Ventures.[2][3][4]
In 2018, co-founder Guo left Scale "due to differences in product vision and road map".[2]
In August 2019, after Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund made a $100 million investment in Scale, its valuation exceeded $1 billion and it acquired Unicorn status.[2][3]
Scale contracted with the United States Department of Defense in 2020.[5]
By July 2021, Scale had reached a valuation of $7 billion, after a financing led by Greenoaks, Dragoneer Investment Group and Tiger Global Management.[6] There was an increased demand for data labelling from clients in different industries.[4]
In February 2022, Scale AI developed its Automated Damage Identification Service in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Satellite imagery was analyzed, measuring the damage to buildings, which were then geotagged and reported to humanitarian groups.[7]
In January 2023, Scale laid off 20% of its workforce.[8]
In May 2023, Scale AI signed a deal with the Army’s XVIII Airborne Corps, becoming the first AI company to deploy its large language model (known as Donovan) on a classified network.[9]
In December 2023, Scale AI was among a list of companies that contributed to Meta Platforms’s Purple Llama initiative, a security framework for the purpose of development of open generative AI models.[10]
In March 2024, Scale reached a valuation of almost $13 billion after Accel led another round of funding.[11] In May 2024, Scale raised an additional $1 billion with new investors including Amazon and Meta Platforms. Its valuation reached $14 billion.[12]
In December 2024, Scale was sued by a former employee with allegations that it was committing wage theft and misclassifying workers.[13] The following month, a second employee filed suit against the company citing similar claims.[14] In January 2025, several contractors sued Scale alleging psychological harm from being exposed to toxic material, such as content related to violence and child abuse.[15]
In January 2025, it was reported in The Conversation that Scale AI and Meta had previously teamed up to create and sell Defense Llama, a large-language model product with military-style defense purposes.[16]
In February 2025, Scale AI agreed to a five-year partnership with the Qatari government to improve government services via AI-based tools and training, including predictive analytics, automation, and advanced data analytics.[17] The deal was signed at the Web Qatar 2025 Summit by Mohammed bin Ali bin Mohammed Al Mannai, the Qatari Minister of Communications and Information Technology.[18] Also in February, the company became a third-party evaluator of AI models for the U.S. AI Safety Institute.[19]
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Remotasks
In 2017, Scale established Remotasks, an in-house outsourcing agency with facilities in Southeast Asia and Africa to train data labelers. Remotasks has been established as a separate brand for client confidentiality according to Scale. The operation was accused of low pay, failing to meet "minimum standards of fair work" and that the "obfuscation" of its association with Scale creates confusion that "can contribute to workers’ vulnerability to exploitation."[2][20]
In March 2024, it was reported that Remotasks had terminated its services in whole countries without explanation. Workers in Kenya, Nigeria, and Pakistan found themselves cut off from accessing its services. Remotasks has also halted new sign-ups in Thailand, Vietnam, and Poland. A Remotasks representative claimed an administrative error was to blame for the lack of notice provided to contractors in Kenya.[21]
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